Tzipi Livni just said that Israel must give up "half of the land of Israel." Good for her; and why are you expanding settlements? But she says that Israel must control the planning re two states. "Any plan put on the table will not be in our interest," she said, intending to "head off international programs," AP reports.
This is the same obdurate posture adopted by Ariel Sharon, who reportedly withdrew from Gaza in 2005 because he feared the excitement over the internationally-brokered Geneva Accord, and the resulting pressure on Israel to agree to outsiders' terms for peace. Livni is appealing here to American Jewish leaders: You have to support Israel so no one pressures us to different terms.
Just as we did at Camp David…Which demonstrates: Nothing fair will happen without pressure. No just solution can be achieved by allowing one side to frame the terms. Henry Siegman wrote as much nearly two years ago, and three years ago, Roane Carey of the Nation (the editor of Clayton Swisher's great book on Camp David) made the same statement in a letter to me:
It would be better for the US AND Israel if Washington were finally
to say something like the following: 'Look the game is up. As your ally
and friend, we're telling you that you have to come to terms with your
neighbors, and that we will no longer act as your enabler. Therefore,
we have decided to throw our full support behind the Arab League's
Beirut Declaration offering full peace for full withdrawal to the
pre-1967 lines, first announced in 2002 and reiterated since, and urge
you to do the same, which would give you peace and diplomatic relations
with all 22 members of the Arab League in return for full withdrawal
from the territories, including East Jerusalem, and a reasonable
resolution of the refugee issue (probably return of a significant
chunk, maybe 100,000 or so, plus public recognition of the expulsion of
'48, and generous monetary compensation for the rest, which we will
contribute to).
If you do this, we will remain your ally and even sign a mutual
defense Pact—hell, we'll even station a permanent brigade or division
of US troops on your borders as a tripwire if you want—but in return
you must agree to these measures. If you refuse this offer, fine—it's
your right as a sovereign state. But if you do refuse, we will
henceforth cut off all aid, military and economic, and will never veto
a UN resolution against you again. You'll be left to sink or swim on
your own. Take your pick.
That was nearly 3 years ago. The lesson's as clear now as it was then: the international community can't expect any leadership from a weak and brutalized government. And Jack Ross asks: If she really means half, is she returning to the '47 U.N. Partition plan, which gave the Palestinians a little less than half of Mandate Palestine as a state?
