Israel’s self-declared settlement building “moratorium” is set to expire this Sunday, and few expect that it will be extended. Even though the moratorium has meant little on the ground, this decision would still present a challenge to the Obama administration who hopes to keep its peace process moving forward despite the obvious fact that expanding Jewish colonies in the middle of the prospective Palestinian state isn’t really the best way to negotiate in good faith.
Mondoweiss contributor Josh Ruebner has a great piece in today’s USA Today that predicts one way the administration might attempt to square this circle:
To forestall a breakdown of this charade, into which Obama, Clinton, and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell have already invested so much political capital, the Obama administration appears to be playing a dangerous game to massage these seemingly irreconcilable positions.
Although not yet an officially declared policy of the United States, its contours emerge from hints emanating from Clinton during the most recent round of negotiations. On her way to Egypt on Sept. 13, Clinton said, “We recognize that an agreement that could be forged between the Israelis and the Palestinians on actions that would be taken by both sides that would enable the negotiations to continue is in the best interests of both sides. This has to be understood as an effort by both the prime minister and the president to get over a hurdle posed by the expiration of the original moratorium in order to continue negotiations that hold out the promise of resolving all the core issues.”
And how would she propose the parties jump this hurdle? “I think there’s a lot of ways to get to the goal. Remember, the goal is to work toward agreement on core issues like borders and territories that would, if agreed upon, eliminate the debate about settlements, because some areas would be inside Israel and some areas would not be inside Israel. So I think that there are obligations on both sides to ensure that these negotiations continue.”
In other words, the difference can be bridged by arm twisting the Palestinians to agree up front on the land that Israel will annex, permitting unfettered colonization, in exchange for the privilege of continuing negotiations in the ever-dimming hope that some crumbs will eventually get tossed their way in the undetermined future. Call this policy “Annexation First, Mini-Statehood Maybe Later.”
