Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., April 05, 2009 Nisan 11, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:26 (EST+7)
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U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu.
(Daneil Bar-On)
Obama is waiting on Netanyahu
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Obama, Netanyahu, Likud 

While aides to Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak were busy formulating the coalition agreement and dividing up ministerial portfolios, Barack Obama's men were working on a bipartisan document and burrowed through files.

The document they produced is waiting for the new Israeli government to be sworn in. The American president is due to use it as the basis of a special speech in which he will present his vision for the Middle East.

Of prime importance among the files on the desks of those who composed the document is a report drawn up at the end of 2008 by 10 senior figures from the two principal political parties in the United States.
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One of them, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, has in the interim been appointed a senior economic adviser to the president.

The authors of that report recommended to the president that he replace "the conditions of the Quartet" with a readiness to recognize a Palestinian unity government, on condition that that government would agree to a cease-fire with Israel, authorize Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to conduct negotiations on a final-status solution, and bring the agreement to a referendum. Since Netanyahu refuses to accept the principle of a Palestinian state being established alongside Israel, he would have some difficulty complaining about the U.S. relieving Hamas of the same demand.

The report's authors proposed that the president adopt the following positions with regard to the components of a final-status agreement: an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, with the exception of large settlement blocs; Jerusalem being the capital of both Israel and Palestine, and divided on a demographic basis; adoption of a special regime in the Old City; the rehabilitation of refugees within the Palestinian state, with Israel accepting a degree of responsibility for the problem; and the stationing of a multinational force in the territories during an interim period.

The experts who drew up the report placed the Palestinian channel ahead of the Syrian channel in urgency, and expressed the opinion that 2009 constitutes the last opportunity for a partition solution.

They suggested as well that a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict would be a central factor in the struggle against Islamic fundamentalists and world jihad.

In his column in The New York Times last week, Roger Cohen wrote that the approach of Volcker and the other authors of the report, an updated version of which Volcker recently presented to the president, was to a large extent in keeping with the approach of Obama's national security advisor, James Jones, and special emissary George Mitchell. The 10 members of the team that prepared the report included Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, both of whom headed the National Security Council; former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, former Republican senator Chuck Hagel; James Wolfensohn, formerly president of the World Bank as well as the Quartet's Middle East emissary; and Thomas Pickering, a former under secretary of state. All of them are members of the U.S. Middle East Project, headed by Henry Siegman. True, Siegman is considered a member of the "far left," but Netanyahu will have a hard time accusing him of anti-Semitism, since he is an ordained Orthodox rabbi, and he served as executive director of the American Jewish Congress.

Ehud vs. Barak

One paragraph that stands out in the coalition agreement between Likud and the Labor Party is that which states that "the government will take steps to enforce the law with regard to the illegal [settlement] outposts." (Someone apparently forgot that their name was laundered to "unauthorized"). This is the first time that a politician has dictated a demand viv-a-vis himself.

According to data collected by Peace Now, Defense Minister Barak not only defaulted on his commitment to freeze construction in the settlements and to dismantle at least 24 outposts, but 1,518 new buildings were constructed on his watch last year in the territories, 261 of them on outposts.

Barak found devious ways to circumvent the High Court of Justice's order to evacuate the outpost of Migron, which had been set up on stolen private land.

Hagit Ofran, a member of Peace Now's follow-up team, says that there are no grounds for the claim made recently before the Court that the Israel Defense Forces had evacuated 30 outposts.

In return for the settlers' agreement to evacuate some of their mobile homes, the vast majority of which were in any case unoccupied, Barak gave the go-ahead for "new neighborhoods," a code name for new settlements.

The coalition agreement makes no mention of renewing the work of the ministerial committee for applying the recommendations of the report on the outposts, which was intended to block practices of this kind.

Nor does a single word appear in it about the voluntary evacuation by settlers who live east of the separation fence, an idea that had won the wall-to-wall support of the Labor faction and even received the blessing of Barak himself.

Incidentally, the report presented to President Obama calls for Israel to evacuate all of those settlements. Those that are willing and those that are not.

Who's to watch over the watchman?

Several days ago there appeared in the newspapers advertisement declaring the establishment of a committee that is tasked with filling the vacant position of deputy to the attorney general (for economic-fiscal matters) and the new position of deputy attorney general (in charge of counsel and legislation). The advertisements include job descriptions, minimum qualifications, and a deadline for submission of candidacy. A government decision from 2002 stated that the committee would not only be the body to choose the candidates, but would also determine the job descriptions and define the minimum conditions required of the candidates.

Even in normal times, such a mechanism would be considered irregular, a method for sidestepping tenders. But it's far worse for it to operate during a period of a transition government, after the resignation of the prime minister, and before the new government has received the approval of the new Knesset.

Two weeks ago, attorney Gilad Barnea, an expert in constitutional and administrative law, asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to explain why he postponed the establishment of the search committee until after the swearing-in of the new government.

Mazuz and the civil service commissioner, Shmuel Hollander, explained that there had been "a technical mistake or error in the government decision" from 2002, and that they intended to propose that it be amended.

And until such time? Even though the deadline for candidates to present their candidacies has passed, Mazuz announced that this was merely "a preliminary measure" and that the committee would be appointed after the government is instated.

In the interim, Barnea has petitioned the High Court on the matter in the name of MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union). The court is expected to rule during the coming days on whether it is fitting that those appointed to guard over the law and the rules should violate decisions of the government.

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      1.   From the report alluded too in this story 02:41  |  Mark Lincoln 31/03/09
      2.   take a long look at what just happened to General Motors 02:50  |  SD 31/03/09
      3.   Bound to fail 02:50  |  Nechama 31/03/09
      4.   Wow 03:04  |  exitstan 31/03/09
      5.   Response to Nechma 03:30  |  gly 31/03/09
      6.   How Can The U.S. Unilaterally... 03:47  |  Jeff Northridge 31/03/09
      7.   Obama is not king of Israel 03:59  |  Brod 31/03/09
      8.   Analysis - Jew out 04:31  |  Martini H. Leaf 31/03/09
      9.   The essential contradiction...... 04:54  |  Johnboy 31/03/09
      10.   Mark Lincoln # 1 The Part That I Don`t Get 05:13  |  Jeff Northridge 31/03/09
      11.   No Way will this work 05:16  |  Ralph Levy 31/03/09
      12.   Jeff Northridge. How can the US. 05:28  |  BazMann 31/03/09
      13.   THANK BLESS PRESIDENT OBAMA 05:29  |  fred 31/03/09
      14.   technicalities should not block peace process 05:47  |  BM 31/03/09
      15.   THE GOLDEN RULE 06:18  |  Ed 31/03/09
      16.   It`s really quite simple. 06:35  |  Realist 31/03/09
      17.   Obama the King of Change is waiting on Netanyahu .. 06:38  |  Akram Zekaria 31/03/09
      18.   Obama is waiting on Bibi 06:39  |  JACK COHEN 31/03/09
      19.   This has got to depress the wingnuts to no end... 06:40  |  BBSNews 31/03/09
      20.   Fred You ready to have your sons serve in the West Bank? 06:54  |  Gideon 31/03/09
      21.   America is seen to be overwhelmingly pro-Israel 08:00  |  Natallie Durson 31/03/09
      22.   Settlements blocs 08:07  |  arik 31/03/09
      23.   settlement blocs 08:12  |  arik 31/03/09
      24.   #2, SD 08:23  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      25.   #5, Jeff Northridge 08:25  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      26.   Qassam Hits Ben Gurion Airport 08:28  |  leo 31/03/09
      27.   #15, arik, agreed 08:29  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      28.   Natallie Durson 09:22  |  Nechama 31/03/09
      29.   Obama`s power 09:25  |  Nechama 31/03/09
      30.   # 15 to gideon re: the times have changed 09:31  |  eric 31/03/09
      31.   Why Not? Worth a Try 09:33  |  Mark of Lewiston 31/03/09
      32.   # 18 you`re probably right, arik 09:37  |  eric 31/03/09
      33.   Excellent, Mark Lincoln, 1. Those "constituencies" block peace 12:42  |  Ivar 31/03/09
      34.   BIBI WILL LOSE 12:53  |  indrajaya 31/03/09
      35.   Imagine closing the final page on this ugly chapter 13:18  |  Welshman 31/03/09
      36.   Re Obama`s power & nechema 13:58  |  Rod 31/03/09
      37.   Hope it works 14:00  |  Xiao 31/03/09
      38.   Peace Vs Might 14:35  |  BazMann 31/03/09
      39.   The most outrageous to emerge from all this info... 15:06  |  Esther 31/03/09
      40.   For Obama and his international partners, Netanyahu`s de facto... 15:16  |  Esther 31/03/09
      41.   And if Netanyahu doesn`t deliver.... 15:24  |  Dutch 31/03/09
      42.   Cipora Kohn # 24 Obama is not pro-Muslim, he is pro-American 16:22  |  American in NY 31/03/09
      43.   BazMann # 10 You Have Been Misinformed 16:47  |  Jeff Northridge 31/03/09
      44.   Cipora #24...? 17:04  |  Esther 31/03/09
      45.   Jeff #6... don`t be ridiculous in your indignation... 17:08  |  Esther 31/03/09
      46.   Stop Building But Not "Natural Growth" 17:15  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/03/09
      47.   43 Jeff Northridge - A Clarification or Two 17:33  |  Mark of Lewiston 31/03/09
      48.   "2009 constitutes the last opportunity for a partition solution" 17:33  |  Swiss (Dino) 31/03/09
      49.   Implementation of 242, BazMann. Supplement to Jeff`s reply 17:39  |  Sceptic 31/03/09
      50.   26 Leo - Qassams? Not to Worry 17:40  |  Mark of Lewiston 31/03/09
      51.   Fake Realist 16 18:00  |  Realist 31/03/09
      52.   AS ALWAYS BB TALKS A GOOD FIGHT 18:28  |  Barry 31/03/09
      53.   American in NY on Cipora Kohn 18:31  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/03/09
      54.   #1 Lincoln - Still pretending he`s of influence 18:33  |  *BEN JABO 31/03/09
      55.   Esther # 45 What`s Ridiculous About It? 18:43  |  Jeff Northridge 31/03/09
      56.   bint jaboo on history #54 18:53  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/03/09
      57.   Its really quite simple 19:45  |  Joshua 31/03/09
      58.   Would anyone buy a piece of furniture from Netanyahu? 19:45  |  Wizard 31/03/09
      59.   Hi there, Jeff #55... the entire drift of your reasoning... 19:59  |  Esther 31/03/09
      60.   #25 Cipora 20:06  |  Lou Medel 31/03/09
      61.   To Esther in Tel Aviv 20:13  |  Lou Medel 31/03/09
      62.   #11 Ralph Levy 20:21  |  Lou Medel 31/03/09
      63.   Jeff Northridge on the Arab Jews 20:29  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/03/09
      64.   Thank you, Lou #62 from Arizona... 20:46  |  Esther 31/03/09
      65.   no news is good and bad news 21:11  |  alter herschoin 31/03/09
      66.   Ofcourse, Yaakov #63... your reasoning is right-on... 21:12  |  Esther 31/03/09
      67.   #64, Esther 21:17  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      68.   #47, Mark of Lewiston 21:24  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      69.   #43 Jeff Northridge 21:46  |  BDS 31/03/09
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      71.   Ester # 64 re Lou 22:05  |  American in NY 31/03/09
      72.   Yaakov Sullivan # 53 22:11  |  American in NY 31/03/09
      73.   #40, Esther 22:11  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      74.   Unilateral Reparations? Without Disproving 67? 22:27  |  Eli 31/03/09
      75.   Yaakov - When Did The Divide Happen? 22:36  |  Eli 31/03/09
      76.   #63, Sullivan 22:41  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      77.   #47, Mark of Lewiston 22:51  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      78.   #65, AMY 22:54  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      79.   Eli in Toronto on Arab Jews 22:57  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/03/09
      80.   Cipora #66 23:13  |  Esther 31/03/09
      81.   # 51 un-realist 23:17  |  Axel 31/03/09
      82.   Cipora Kohn on Forest from the Trees 23:21  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/03/09
      83.   # 57 joshua 23:22  |  Axel 31/03/09
      84.   Akiva Eldar 23:30  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 31/03/09
      85.   Yaakov Sullivan # 63 It Has Everything To Do With It 23:35  |  Jeff Northridge 31/03/09
      86.   A chosen Emperor dancing in the ring 23:40  |  Mark B. 31/03/09
      87.   Suck it in Northridge--or take your complaints to the Security 23:44  |  Labhras 31/03/09
      88.   Insipid arguments of Eldar ;"one can`t accuse an Orthodox Rabbi S 23:51  |  Absolute Sweden 31/03/09
      89.   #66 Cipora Julianna Kohn, what true face is that? 23:53  |  Mark B. 31/03/09
      90.   Jeff Northridge---any comment ????. 00:13  |  Labhras 01/04/09
      91.   68 Cipora - Huh? 00:15  |  Mark of Lewiston 01/04/09
      92.   Kohn --yes Esther has shown her face--and it looks 00:26  |  Labhras 01/04/09
      93.   Esther # 59 So What Do You Want? 00:38  |  Jeff Northridge 01/04/09
      94.   Yaakov Sullivan on history: surprisingly honest but still wrong 00:49  |  Realist 01/04/09
      95.   I agree with Lou Esther... 01:00  |  BBSNews 01/04/09
      96.   68 Cipora - Huh? 2nd try 01:08  |  Mark of Lewiston 01/04/09
      97.   Incidently, this proposal has been on the agenda for a long time 02:32  |  Smadar 01/04/09
      98.   Ester # 64 re Lou 03:34  |  American in NY 01/04/09
      99.   ANALYSIS / Obama is waiting on Netanyahu 05:19  |  Serge 01/04/09
      100.   What part of the word EXPELLED, Yaakov and Esther, 05:57  |  Sceptic 01/04/09
      101.   Some of the responders are about to implode 05:57  |  Michael N 01/04/09
      102.   BazMan - Good Points 08:47  |  Bill 01/04/09
      103.   #55 Everything about it is ridiculous, Jeff 12:55  |  Johnboy 01/04/09
      104.   #43 Not this nonsense again, Jeff. 13:06  |  Johnboy 01/04/09
      105.   American in NY 15:55  |  *BEN JABO 01/04/09
      106.   Ass Trisks and BL JBs # 105 02:10  |  American in NY 02/04/09
      107.   #93 You just don`t get it, do you, Jeff...... 03:40  |  Johnboy 02/04/09
      108.   #85 Jeff speaks more nonsense. 03:57  |  Johnboy 02/04/09
      109.   American Nutjob is NY 03:26  |  *BEN JABO 03/04/09
      110.   Re 15 GOLDEN RULE lets talk silver 03:31  |  Raymond M Eades 03/04/09
      111.   #106-2 American ? in NY 03:34  |  *BEN JABO 03/04/09
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      114.   American Nutjob in NY 15:52  |  *BEN JABO 03/04/09
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