Oren Dorell

USA TODAY

Israel insists on a security presence in the Jordan Valley

April 29 deadline looms for peace talks restarted by Kerry

Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to allow a long-term Israeli security presence in the Jordan Valley goes against core elements of any peace deal that would be acceptable to Israel, Israel's ambassador to Washington told USA TODAY.

"If they're not willing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, then there will not be an agreement," Ambassador Ron Dermer said while speaking to the newspaper's editorial board.

Israel also insists on maintaining a security presence in the Jordan Valley, between a future Palestinian state and Jordan, and will never rely on foreign forces to guarantee security given that such arrangements have worked out poorly for Israel in the past, Dermer said.

"We do not ask other countries to fight our battles," he said.

Dermer spoke in response to comments made by Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who told The New York Times over the weekend that recognition of Israel as a Jewish state "is out of the question."

Abbas also said he would agree to allow Israeli forces to stay five years in the West Bank, while they transfer security to NATO and Jordanian troops that could stay as long as they wish and operate anywhere in the territory, the Times reported.

"We will be demilitarized," Abbas said. "Do you think we have any illusion that we can have any security if the Israelis do not feel they have security?"

The sparring comes as an April 29 deadline looms for peace talks restarted by Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry is preparing a "framework" for an American vision of how to make peace and resolve core issues including borders, security, Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, according to the State Department.

Abbas said neither Jordan nor Egypt recognized Israel as a Jewish state when they signed peace treaties with it. But Dermer said the Palestinians' refusal is different because such recognition would mean they relinquish forever any claim to Israeli lands once considered part of Palestine.

Dermer said the military conflicts between Israel and neighboring states and terror groups stems from the refusal of some Arab states and groups to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East. If the Jewish nature of Israel is declared legitimate by a Palestinian state, then Israel will know that a decades-long attempt to destroy it is at an end, he said.

If the Palestinians refuse, Israel will know why, he said.

"The refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state means they (Palestinians) want a Palestinian State not to end the conflict, but to continue the conflict," Dermer said.

The issue of recognition would also affect Palestinian demands that refugees displaced in wars and their descendants, who now number in the millions, should be granted the right to return to Israel. Israel objects because they would swamp the Jewish majority.

On the idea of allowing NATO troops to provide police security, Dermer said history shows that the use of foreign peacekeepers to protect Israel has been a failure when the troops were subjected to constant attack.

United Nations troops in southern Lebanon failed to prevent Hezbollah from kidnapping Israeli soldiers, or from building an arsenal of rockets that it fired at Israel. United Nations troops in the Golan cleared out under fire during the Syrian civil war. And United Nations troops in the Sinai peninsula have not prevented a growing al-Qaeda presence there, or attacks on Israeli troops and communities, Dermer said.

Strong security provided by Israeli troops will be necessary because opponents of a deal will seek to derail an agreement, Dermer said.

In the Gaza strip, which is controlled by the terrorist group Hamas and not by Abbas' Fatah party, Hamas will oppose any deal Abbas signs, Dermer said.

Referring to Abbas by his nickname, Dermer said: "If Abu Mazen signs a peace agreement, you know what will happen? Hamas will oppose it. Rockets will be fired at Israel. People will attack that peace agreement because they don't want it to happen."

The West Bank "will become a magnet for al-Qaeda and others; it will put enormous pressures on Jordan as well," Dermer said. "Abu Mazen is willing to have foreign forces (in the Jordan Valley), so the issue is not sovereignty, he just doesn't want Israeli forces, which have proven to be the only effective force here."