26/12/2010
Israeli Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer declared Sunday that Israel's very existence depended on the renewal of Middle East negotiations, warning ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting that the Palestinians could garner world-wide support for statehood before a peace deal was reached.
"We must do everything possible to get to dialogue with the Palestinians, even if it costs us a settlement freeze for a few months," Ben-Eliezer said at the start of the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "I wouldn't be surprised if within one year the whole world supports a Palestinian state, including the United States. Then we'll ask where we were and what we were doing."
Five Latin American countries have already recognized Palestinian statehood, amid the West Bank authority's bid to declare independence unilaterally. The European Union has staved off Palestinian pressure in favor of waiting until the "appropriate" time, while the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution this month saying only peace talks could set such a process in motion.
The Palestinians have reiterated that they will not return to the negotiating table until a freeze is renewed, but U.S. efforts to coax Israel into such a move has failed.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has circulated a draft resolution to the members of the United Nations Security Council condemning Israeli construction in the settlements.
The draft drew U.S. condemnation, with a senior Obama administration official telling Haaretz: "Final status issues can only be resolved through negotiations between the parties, not by recourse to the UN Security Council."
The document, which the PA formulated together with Arab countries and a copy of which Haaretz has obtained, states that Israeli actions in constructing settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and are the main obstacle to peace on the basis of a two-state solution.
Israel's Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister's Bureau have been holding talks with members of the Security Council, particularly the United States, France and Britain, in an attempt to thwart the resolution, Haaretz said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell told the Maine Public Broadcasting Network that the administration in Washington will not cease its involvement in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians because American abandonment of the process could lead to an outbreak of violence. "I think that any president would not simply stand by and let a conflict erupt because it would not be in our interest," Mitchell said.
The envoy added: "One of the reasons we are involved there is because it is within the strategic interests and national interests of the United States that the conflict be resolved. I do think that we have to stay involved because our interest is at stake, and a principal point is that an eruption of violence or some other negative act could occur at any time with unforeseeable consequences."
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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