[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

It is premature to draw any conclusions regarding what PM Netanyahu is
actually setting out to do.

Are we going to witness a repeat of what transpired during his first
administration after Wye, when his cabinet was presented with briefings
misrepresenting what was going on [the executive summary of the agreement
didn't jibe with the actual text - something that one can expect to get away
with given that the agreement was in English and more than three sentences
long] and his office avoided criticizing the Palestinian leadership [going
so far as to even claim that a legally meaningless waive of hands at a photo
op in Gaza constituted fulfillment of the Palestinian obligation to revise
the PLO charter)?

Are we going to see, for the sake of PR, a series of security measures
dropped despite the declared intent of Hamas to carry out attacks? [The
ultimate cynicism to be that if Hamas "delivers the goods" and murders
Israelis as a result of the easing of security measures that we get even
more credit for the "sacrifice for peace"]?

Is Prime Minister Netanyahu going to heed the call of the kibitzers and
betray his constituents with the expectation that, lacking a viable
alternative, they can't really punish him for the move?

Or is Binyamin Netanyahu like a burlesque fan dancer, working on the
assumption that Mahmoud Abbas will indeed stop the music in a few weeks when
the building freeze ends? [And what then if Abbas doesn't bolt? Does he
have a Plan B, or does the striptease of Israel's interests continue?]

The campaign protesting Netanyahu's possible extension of the freeze has
already been launched. And that's fine. It strengthens the Prime
Minister's position.

In general there is a feeling in the national camp that the lessons of
previous betrayals is that there is little to gain from giving a leader time
to play out his plan once it is clear that he has turned on you. [The irony
of the charge that the national camp hasn't learned the lesson that you
shouldn't bring down governments that betray you is that the lesson should
be for betraying politicians].

But, then again, unlike some previous episodes, in this case we have a very
definite test coming up in short order: is the freeze extended?

There can be a million and one explanations for the extension.

But the conclusion will always be the same.

If the freeze is extended we have a prime minister who has sacrificed all of
his credibility.

And the Palestinians will eat him alive at the negotiating table.

Yes, it is frustrating.

And there already a place for protest campaigns to help show the world that
Netanyahu doesn't have carte blanche.

But, at least as it stands today, it makes sense to reserve judgment until
September 26.]

Remarks by PM Netanyahu Before Working Dinner with President Obama,
President Abbas, President Mubarak and King Abdullah
Transcription
www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechbefore010910.htm
01/09/2010

Mr. President, Excellencies, Shalom aleichem. Shalom al kulanu. Peace unto
us all.

I'm very pleased to be here today to begin our common effort to achieve a
lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

I want to thank you, President Obama, for your tireless efforts to renew
this quest for peace. I want to thank Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Senator Mitchell, the many members of the Obama administration, and Tony
Blair, who've all worked so hard to bring Israelis and Palestinians together
here today.

I also want to thank President Mubarak and King Abdullah for their dedicated
and meaningful support to promote peace, security, and stability throughout
our region. I deeply appreciate your presence here today.

I began with a Hebrew word for peace, "shalom." Our goal is shalom. Our
goal is to forge a secure and durable peace between Israelis and
Palestinians. We don't seek a brief interlude between two wars. We don't
seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror. We seek a peace that
will end the conflict between us once and for all. We seek a peace that
will last for generations -- our generation, our children's generation, and
the next.

This is the peace my people fervently want. This is the peace all our
peoples fervently aspire to. This is the peace they deserve.

Now, a lasting peace is a peace between peoples -- between Israelis and
Palestinians. We must learn to live together, to live next to one another
and with one another. But every peace begins with leaders.

President Abbas, you are my partner in peace. And it is up to us, with the
help of our friends, to conclude the agonizing conflict between our peoples
and to afford them a new beginning. The Jewish people are not strangers in
our ancestral homeland, the land of our forefathers. But we recognize that
another people shares this land with us.I came here today to find an
historic compromise that will enable both our peoples to live in peace and
security and in dignity.

I've been making the case for Israel all of my life. But I didn't come here
today to make an argument. I came here today to make peace. I didn't come
here today to play a blame game where even the winners lose. Everybody
loses if there's no peace. I came here to achieve a peace that will bring a
lasting benefit to us all.

I didn't come here to find excuses or to make them. I came here to find
solutions. I know the history of our conflict and the sacrifices that have
been made.

I know the grief that has afflicted so many families who have lost their
dearest loved ones. Only yesterday four Israelis, including a pregnant
women -- a pregnant woman -- and another woman, a mother of six children,
were brutally murdered by savage terrorists. And two hours ago, there was
another terror attack. And thank God no one died. I will not let the
terrorists block our path to peace, but as these events underscore once
again, that peace must be anchored in security.

I'm prepared to walk down the path of peace, because I know what peace would
mean for our children and for our grandchildren. I know it would herald a
new beginning that could unleash unprecedented opportunities for Israelis,
for Palestinians, and for the peoples -- all the peoples -- of our region,
and well beyond our region. I think it would affect the world.
I see what a period of calm has created in the Palestinian cities of
Ramallah, of Janin, throughout the West Bank, a great economic boom. And
real peace can turn this boom into a permanent era of progress and hope.
If we work together, we can take advantage of the great benefits afforded by
our unique place under the sun. We're the crossroads of three continents,
at the crossroads of history, and the crossroads of the future. Our
geography, our history, our culture, our climate, the talents of our people
can be unleashed to create extraordinary opportunities in tourism, in trade,
in industry, in energy, in water, in so many areas. But peace must also be
defended against its enemies. We want the skyline of the West Bank to be
dominated by apartment towers -- not missiles. We want the roads of the
West Bank to flow with commerce -- not terrorists.

And this is not a theoretic request for our people. We left Lebanon, and we
got terror. We left Gaza, and we got terror once again. We want to ensure
that territory we'll concede will not be turned into a third
Iranian-sponsored terror enclave armed at the heart of Israel -- and may I
add, also aimed at every one of us sitting on this stage.
This is why a defensible peace requires security arrangements that can
withstand the test of time and the many challenges that are sure to confront
us. And there will be many challenges, both great and small. Let us not
get bogged down by every difference between us. Let us direct our courage,
our thinking, and our decisions at those historic decisions that lie ahead.

Now, there are many skeptics. One thing there's no shortage of, Mr.
President, are skeptics. This is something that you're so familiar with,
that all of us in a position of leadership are familiar with. There are
many skeptics. I suppose there are many reasons for skepticism. But I have
no doubt that peace is possible.

President Abbas, we cannot erase the past, but it is within our power to
change the future. Thousands of years ago, on these very hills where
Israelis and Palestinians live today, the Jewish prophet Isaiah and the
other prophets of my people envisaged a future of lasting peace for all
mankind. Let today be an auspicious step in our joint effort to realize
that ancient vision for a better future.