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Kerry's Framework: Reservations on All Sides

(Israel Hayom) Dan Margalit - Israeli officials are not overly concerned by the prospect of a U.S. template for an agreement. They point to 2011, when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a peace plan of sorts. Israel largely accepted it, with various reservations; the Palestinians rejected it. This begs the question, do reservations even matter? Israel has promised to release prisoners in what it calls a "gesture to the Palestinians," but we all know this was designed to placate Kerry. The coupling of the prisoner release to increased construction in the West Bank can be traced to an American idea. Contrary to some reports, Netanyahu has never offered to exchange Israeli Arab towns for settlement blocs, primarily because he knows it to be a futile endeavor. Israeli Arabs will forever prefer to live as Israeli citizens over becoming residents of a Palestinian state. Israel, it seems, would like the U.S. to finish drafting the agreement so that both sides can add their reservations and then sign it. But the Palestinians want the agreement - and its reservations - to be nothing more than a verbal understanding.
2014-01-03 00:00:00
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