Netanyahu takes dictation from Obama, utters "two states" formula

[Israel Insider]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's use of the words "two states for two peoples" at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting was "most certainly" the result of US pressure, senior diplomatic officials told the Jerusalem Post Sunday.

For the first time, on the eve of yet another meeting between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and US Mideast envoy George Mitchell, Netanyahu uttered the "magic formula" Washington had been urging him to say for months.

The Palestinians have conditioned discussions with the Netanyahu government on an Israeli commitment to two states, as well as a settlement freeze. The conditions of that freeze, and what exactly it means, are being worked out in the meetings between Barak and Mitchell, the latest to be held today in London.

During the last meeting, Barak discussed with Mitchell linking an agreement on the settlement issue with the Arab states taking steps now to normalize relations with Israel. The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported that the quid pro quo offered by the Americans for freezing settlements would be Arab states allowing El Al to fly through Saudi Arabian airspace, although it said Israeli officials were doubtful that the Saudis would fulfill this supposed pledge let alone turn a blind eye to Israeli warplanes flying through that airspace enroute to a bombing mission in Iran, as the Sunday Times reported was approved, according to Mossad chief, Meir Dagan.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu - who refrained from saying "two states for two peoples" during his meeting with US President Barack Obama in May, and in his Bar-Ilan University speech in June - pronounced the words while reviewing his first 100 days in office at Sunday's cabinet meeting.

"I can't say that we had 100 days of grace, but we are not complaining, because we have many achievements," the prime minister said. First and foremost was the establishment of a national unity government that "brought national consensus to the idea of two states for two peoples," he added. An agreement on this, he stressed, will necessitate the Palestinians recognizing Israel as the "state of the Jewish people," something that means the refugee issue will "be solved outside Israel's borders." Such an agreement would also mean that "Israel needs and will receive defensible borders which include a full demilitarization of the Palestinian territory," Netanyahu said.

His comments on "two states for two peoples" were more explicit than his phrasing at Bar-Ilan University, in which he said that "two peoples will live freely, side-by-side, as good neighbors with mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own anthem, its own government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other."

During that speech, he said that if Israel received guarantees of demilitarization and if the Palestinians recognized Israel as state of the Jewish people, "then we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state."

In interviews with the foreign press after that speech, he spoke of a willingness to have a Palestinian state next to a Jewish one, but diplomatic officials said his use of the "two states for two people" formula in Sunday's cabinet meeting was not coincidental, and was in fact linked to a package deal the US is trying to put together to relaunch negotiations.

Parties on the right, inside and outside of Netnayahu's government coalition, were not pleased that the Israeli prime minister was carrying water for Obama.

Habayit Hayehudi faction chairman Zevulun Orlev slammed Netanyahu for saying "two states for two peoples." He called on the prime minister to stop "surrendering" to American and European pressure.

"I am sorry that Netanyahu's opinions have steamrolled down a slippery slope," Orlev said. "Kadima's agenda has no majority in the current coalition."

The prime minister was also criticized by opposition MKs. National Union chairman Ya'acov Katz said that had Netanyahu said what he said at Sunday's cabinet meeting during the election campaign, he would not be prime minister today. "He was elected to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and now he declares that there is a consensus on two states for two peoples," National Union MK Arye Eldad said. "But Netanyahu knows that the only consensus now is that he is a weak leader who crumbles under pressure and will do anything to suck up the American administration."

[Avraham]

I see there is the beginning of a "rebellion" from Likud party members. A letter was sent to the prime minister, signed by approximately half Likud party members. But isn't the prime minister the one who is rebelling against Jewish morals and ethics, not to mention Likud party principles? I wonder who was not courageous enough to sign the letter. Where are Ya'alon, Begin, etc., for instance?