Feb 21, 2016

The Palestinian leadership is concerned with Israeli discourse, both by the government and the opposition, about future unilateral steps by Israel. On the one hand, it refers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement Feb. 9 about building a fence on Israel’s borders, including along the Jordan River, to defend Israel against the infiltration of “wild beasts.” On the other hand, it refers to Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog’s proposal for a unilateral disengagement from East Jerusalem neighborhoods.

A senior official in the direct entourage of President Mahmoud Abbas told Al-Monitor, on the condition of anonymity, that the leadership in Ramallah rejects all of Israel’s unilateral acts and proposals. “There are currently on the table some Israeli unilateral acts motivated by devastating intentions and others with better intentions. But both are dangerous and bound to fail,” he said.

The official spoke at length about the failure of the Gaza disengagement in the summer of 2005. He claimed that the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should have concluded an agreement with Abbas on the withdrawal from Gaza prior to acting. The unilateral disengagement actually strengthened the position of Hamas. It helped bring it to power in Gaza in 2007, given the security turmoil that was left behind. The official said, with great anger, that Netanyahu’s policies and actions are all unilateral, “The prime minister’s policy is very clear to us — to unilaterally prevent us from establishing a state.” He recited a long list of unilateral acts by the Netanyahu government and by the Israeli army, including settlement expansion, land appropriation, demolition of houses, Israeli economic development of settlements' industrial zones in West Bank Area C (under Israeli control), the army entering Palestinian cities in Area A (under Palestinian control) and expanding Israeli control in East Jerusalem, etc. The official added that Netanyahu’s policies can be summed up as a de facto gradual annexation of the West Bank to Israel.

At the same time, the official also criticized opposition leader Herzog’s new plan on unilateral disengagement from East Jerusalem neighborhoods and villages. He was especially frustrated with Herzog blaming Abbas for the lack of a two-state solution process. “Israel will not find a more moderate leader than Abbas. Herzog should learn from one of his predecessors, [the late Prime Minister] Yitzhak Rabin, that Israel can create a partnership with the pragmatic Fatah leadership,” he noted. The source criticized the idea of isolating Jerusalem’s Old City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the rest of East Jerusalem, stating, “We would fight such a proposition if it were made by an acting prime minister.”

The official concluded with a note of bitter criticism, “Apparently, Israel is not able to make agreements based on compromises — agreements which can be reached only out of a position of equality between the negotiating sides. Due to the occupation, Israelis from right and left suffer from a superiority complex.”