PA minister: No agreement on any issue
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 3, 2008
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Not a single word has been set on paper and there is no real agreement on
the smaller points, let alone the core issues, of a peace deal between
Israel and the Palestinians, PA Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said on
Wednesday.

Negotiations between the two sides continue on almost a daily basis in an
effort to reach a deal by the end of 2008, Malki told the Israel Council on
Foreign Relations in Jerusalem.

He struck a pessimistic note when he added that "until this moment," with
four months left to go until that deadline, "they [the Israeli and
Palestinian negotiators] did not start writing one single word on paper. The
reason for this is that they do not really agree on any issue or sub-issue
yet.

"But they are trying very hard and they have exchanged positions, ideas and
maps," Malki said.

His words were echoed by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad,
who had been originally scheduled to address the council but at the last
moment sent Malki in his stead.

In a statement that was read by Malki to the council, Fayad said, "I fear
that the two-state solution is losing currency among both our peoples and
with the world community beyond."

Extremists could take over the institutions of both sides, he said.

Their words followed a meeting on Sunday between PA President Mahmoud Abbas
and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that was likely their last face-to-face
exchange before the Kadima primary on September 17.

Israeli officials discounted Malki's pessimism, saying that progress had
been made on important issues such as final borders and that it was logical
that nothing had yet been formally set in writing, although clearly there
were portions of negotiations' contents that had been written down.

In what is seen as a sign of significant progress toward resolving the issue
of settlement expansion, the cabinet is set to discuss an
evacuation-compensation plan for settlers in Judea and Samaria on Sunday,
according to the Prime Minister's Office.

The initiative, first proposed by Labor and Meretz politicians years ago and
being handled at the cabinet level by Vice Premier Haim Ramon, would
compensate settlers who move within the Green Line.

Sources in Kadima said the decision to discuss the initiative was
politically motivated.

"This government's days are numbered and there is no place for [discussing
Ramon's initiative] before the diplomatic process has developed. This move
seems to [have been] planned by someone who wants to prevent Olmert's
successor from forming a coalition with Shas or other nationalist parties.

"The discussion comes too soon, and [the] political aim and timing, on the
Ramon-Olmert axis, is not coincidental," the sources said.

This is the first time that the proposal has reached the cabinet level.
According to left-wing groups that have worked on this issue, such as One
House, thousands of settlers would be willing to evacuate peacefully in
return for compensation.

The main opposition to Ramon's plan is expected to come from Shas and other
hawkish coalition partners who believe that no decision on the issue should
be made less then two weeks before the primary after which the prime
minister is expected to make good on his word and resign.

The plan is also expected to be fiercely opposed by the Likud, National
Union-National Religious Party and Israel Beiteinu.

The Prime Minister's Office said, however, that there was no intention of
making a decision on the subject right away and that no vote would be held
on the issue at the present time.

"The prime minister wants to hear what his ministers have to say," Olmert's
staff said in a statement.

The spokesman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the
Gaza Strip said, "The only evacuation pending is the evacuation of the
government for the failures it has brought the citizens of Israel."

Foreign minister Tzipi Livni, at a Kadima primary campaign event in Tel Aviv
on Wednesday evening, came out against dealing with the evacuation and
compensation bill now, saying it would be possible to push it forward only
after "we know what the borders will be."

"Only after the road map [peace plan] is implemented will it be possible to
be move to the next level," she said.

Livni's main rival in the Kadima race, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz,
came out "adamantly" against the proposal. "This is a law that weakens
Israel, and weakens its position in the negotiations, and I will not support
it," he said.

Sources close to Mofaz said the timing of bringing the bill to the cabinet
now was odd, and indicated some discussions in the negotiations with the PA
that Livni was heading were being kept from the public.

The sources said Livni should let the public know what was being discussed
and "stop talking in two voices."

The cabinet discussion comes amidst harsh criticism by the Palestinians on
Wednesday, including from Fayad and Malki, of settlement construction, which
they say has increased sharply since the latest round of talks began in
November 2007 in Annapolis, Maryland, contrary to Israel's agreement to
refrain from such activity.

Such building destroyed the viability of a future Palestinians state, so "we
understand by such actions that Israel does not want a viable state to be
created," Malki said.

He declined to say what options the PA would consider should the idea of a
two-state solution fall apart. But despite the dire warnings from
Palestinian leaders that the two-state solution would soon be doomed, "We
have to believe that a two-state solution is possible, but it depends on the
attitude and the behavior of the Israeli government," Malki said.

Fayad said in the statement that Israel had to choose between settlements
and a two-state solution.

The Palestinians, Malki said, were committed to reaching a peace accord by
the end of 2008. It was possible, he said, if there was a desire on the
Israeli side, that negotiations could continue in 2009 if that deadline was
not met.

"I need the same assurances from the Israeli side and the international
community. I do not know if the international community will maintain its
interest in pursuing peace in 2009 as it did in 2008, he said.

He worried in particular that with the recent world events such as Russia's
entry into Georgia, that the international community would lose its interest
in solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"We do need them here [the international community] he told The Jerusalem
Post after the meeting. "We cannot progress in any way without them."

The Palestinians, Malki told the council, were committed to working for
peace now, 10 years from now and 100 years from now, because peace between
them and the Israelis was in everyone's interest.

"We will do our utmost to achieve it," he said, adding, "The sooner the
better."

For the Palestinians, he said, that solution means a withdrawal to the
pre-1967 border. When it came to Jerusalem, where that border ran through
the city, Malki said he respected Israel's decision to make Jerusalem its
capital just as he hoped that Israel would likewise respect the
Palestinians' decision that it was their capital as well.

"I do believe that Jerusalem is so important and so holy for all of us. You
know that we could share [it]," he said.

Gaza was also an important part of the future Palestinian state, Malki said.
"We have said it very clearly from the beginning that the problem in Gaza is
a problem that we are determined to solve and we will solve it in due time."

Should a final-status agreement be reached with Israel, it would be the PA's
responsibility to bring Gaza back under the PA's control, he said.

As an initial step in that direction, Abbas called in June for the start of
a national dialogue among all the Palestinians factions, including Hamas.
The PA had asked Egypt to create the "positive conditions and atmosphere"
for such a dialogue, Malki said.

Even today, Egypt was working on a bilateral level with the representatives
of the various factions to see if a national dialogue could be held under
the umbrella of the Arab League.

"We are hopeful that all the factions will adhere to such an initiative and
that this initiative will result in ending the separation between Gaza and
the West Bank and will bring Gaza back under the full authority of the
government leadership," Malki said.

Once Gaza and the West Bank were reunited, one of the first steps would be
the creation of a coalition government that was not partisan and not
factional, he said.
At that time the PA security services would be restructured.

It would also be helpful to have a pan-Arab force deployed in Gaza to help
ensure order. It is an idea, said Malki, which has the support both of the
PA and of Egypt.

He said he planned to raise the matter at the September 8 meeting of Arab
foreign ministers in Cairo, should Egypt fail to open a debate on the issue.

"We will assess then exactly if this idea is possible and practical and
under what conditions," Malki said.

Herb Keinon contributed to this report.