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Some dates are sacred
By Akiva Eldar
The Palestinians consider November to be unlucky, and justly so. Since the Balfour Declaration in November 1917, which recognized the establishment of a national home for the Jews in the Land of Israel, November bodes badly for them - in 30-year intervals.

In November 1947 the United Nations General Assembly voted on the establishment of a Jewish state; in November 1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem to announce that the most important Arab state recognized the Jewish state. If in the coming weeks there is no dramatic change during the meetings for drafting the Annapolis document, November 2007 will be added to that forlorn list. But this time the failure will be marked in bold letters in the book of misses by the Zionist movement.

In an interview published last week in Newsweek and The Washington Post (and widely quoted in the Arab media), Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas expressed regret that the Palestinians refused to accept the UN's decision to divide the area into two states. From the interview, as well as the discussions that he and his aides have been holding with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his advisers, it emerges that the principles of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians are within reach. They have not been significantly altered since the Palestinian National Council, under Yasser Arafat (who died in November 2004), declared in Algiers in November 1988 that it accepted UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
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In other words, it agreed to dividing the territory on the basis of the borders of June 4, 1967. In the interview, Abbas also expressed his support for Haim Ramon's framework for a settlement on Jerusalem, and explained that even though he, as a Safed native, is not allowed to relinquish the right to return to his home, the two sides should agree on a way to solve this issue.

As in any talks designed to reach a compromise and achieve reconciliation, it is necessary to identify the counterpart's red lines and know when to stop bargaining. Olmert would do well to study the lessons of Ehud Barak in his negotiations with the Palestinians at Camp David and the Syrians at Shepherdstown. Arafat and Hafez Assad refused to give up on the principle - established in the peace agreement with Egypt - of peace in exchange for the territory occupied in 1967, even at the cost of the talks' failure and a falling out with the United States. Abbas, who lost the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which lost the support of a significant portion of West Bank voters, will not give Israel more than Arafat was willing to give, just like Bashar Assad will be no more generous than his father.

What has changed for the better since Arafat and the elder Assad exited the scene is what the Arabs are willing to offer for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory. In November 2007 Israel, for the first time, will attend a peace conference that enjoys broad Arab support, and not only on the Jewish state's right to exist within the 1967 borders. The Arab League peace initiative offers Israel, in advance, a normalization of relations - an entry ticket to the Middle East club. The League's declaration also states that the solution to the refugee problem must be reached with Israel's agreement. The wording intentionally leaves a great deal of room for negotiations on alterations to the border, special arrangements for the holy sites and security arrangements for the evacuated territory.

Fourteen years ago, when Yitzhak Rabin decided to delay the withdrawal from West Bank and Gaza cities, he argued that "there are no sacred dates." Israel's leaders have interpreted this statement in the broadest possible way. According to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian state should have come into being by May 1999. Before the road map, the entire conflict was supposed to finish by the end of 2005. Ignoring the calendar has not worked in our favor. The bad years since the peace talks have not softened the Palestinians' - or Syrians' - basic positions regarding the price of peace. Furthermore, the Iranians are not waiting patiently for Olmert to make time from the police investigations or for the Winograd Committee to finish its work.

The politicians who argue that "this is not the time for negotiations on a final settlement," are unable to guarantee that in one year, two years or 10 years we will get a better offer, if at all. None of them is able to promise that the Arabs' willingness to break from their November tradition will still be in place if the Annapolis summit ends without an agreement on principles in the spirit of the Arab League initiative, and without a reasonable and binding timetable.
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  1.   Now is the time... 11:00  |  Motic 08/10/07
  2.   Eldar 11:01  |  j10 08/10/07
  3.   Place a "refuge" in Eldars household.His grandaughter Tamas is 11:06  |  Absolute Sweden 08/10/07
  4.   Wishfull thinking 11:07  |  Amos 08/10/07
  5.   Is anything CONCRETE that the Arabs will offer Israel? 11:13  |  Hastaroth 08/10/07
  6.   What peace agreement? On what planet is this shmok living on? 11:16  |  Dudu 08/10/07
  7.   the lives of israelis are sacred, dates are not 11:22  |  joe 08/10/07
  8.   you mean.... 11:23  |  ravi 08/10/07
  9.   6.....dudu..... better places for the shmok.... 11:31  |  ravi 08/10/07
  10.   242/338 and "borders" 11:31  |  Naftush 08/10/07
  11.   ELDAR CONFIRMS APPEASEMENT DOES NOT WORK 11:33  |  paul harris 08/10/07
  12.   A New Red Line For Israel-Gaza 11:42  |  dyinglikeflies 08/10/07
  13.   Israel has NOTHING to offer to Palestinians 11:52  |  Pal 08/10/07
  14.   I hope Arab regimes will not normalize with Israel 11:53  |  Arab Citizen 08/10/07
  15.   It is almost funny... 12:12  |  Anne 08/10/07
  16.   Anne 12:32  |  j10 08/10/07
  17.   time 12:33  |  yishayahu 08/10/07
  18.   Arafat has no business signing off the Palestinian rights!Even 12:38  |  lakshmi 08/10/07
  19.   Al Quds: Pal 12:41  |  Sandy 08/10/07
  20.   Ravi: shankar or simply shanked??? 12:45  |  Laura 08/10/07
  21.   Joe and inverted logic 12:58  |  Truth 08/10/07
  22.   A very ridiculous article 13:10  |  Jonathan S 08/10/07
  23.   #j10.you are obviously a FRW.We know that A.ELDAR 13:11  |  Arik 08/10/07
  24.   #14. I agree with you ARAB CITIZEN 13:20  |  Abdul Uzz 08/10/07
  25.   Secure and Recognised Borders are more important 13:22  |  Dagma 08/10/07
  26.   Eldar the uncle tom 13:25  |  peter 08/10/07
  27.   Lakshmi: Arafat`s dead. 13:26  |  Jasmine Murphy 08/10/07
  28.   Just wait 13:35  |  John 08/10/07
  29.   to the "sweety" in London #1 13:50  |  Hilda 08/10/07
  30.   #5, Hastaroth 13:54  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  31.   #6, Doo-doo 13:57  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  32.   #15, Anne 14:01  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  33.   #17, yishayahu 14:04  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  34.   I`ve been saying time and time again it`s not on their side 14:06  |  Palestinian Prince 08/10/07
  35.   #19, Sandy 14:09  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  36.   You would kick Jews out of their homes for what? 14:12  |  Rafi 08/10/07
  37.   In fifty years, Israel will have been gone 14:12  |  KMS 08/10/07
  38.   #30 So-called Hannah 14:12  |  Hastaroth 08/10/07
  39.   To KMS- We Were Here Before And After You 14:23  |  dyinglikeflies 08/10/07
  40.   John 28, Just wait 14:26  |  Yaakov 08/10/07
  41.   #30, Hastaroth 14:29  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  42.   # 11 paul harris " your subject title is correct " 14:40  |  Joseph E . 08/10/07
  43.   #37, KMS 14:40  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  44.   In 30 years, Jordan will be Jordan Palestine 14:47  |  David 08/10/07
  45.   #37KMS CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT WILL WIN THE GRAND NATIONAL ? 14:51  |  paul harris 08/10/07
  46.   Israel is the last holdout for a comprehensive peace 15:00  |  Ibrahim 08/10/07
  47.   STOP IT!IF YOU GIVE AWAY HOLYLAND,THEY`LL REWARD YOU WITH ROCKETS 15:09  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 08/10/07
  48.   Hannah 15:26  |  Sandy 08/10/07
  49.   Ibrahim 15:31  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 08/10/07
  50.   Hannah: Hastaroth: getting it or not 15:33  |  Sandy 08/10/07
  51.   #, Moshiach 15:38  |  Hannah 08/10/07
  52.   Akiva Eldar defines positive prospects for the Summit 15:41  |  Smadar 08/10/07
  53.   Pal # 13 15:45  |  ChanahS 08/10/07
  54.   Palestinian Prince- Keep Your Olive Branch, Make a Just Peace 15:46  |  dyinglikeflies 08/10/07
  55.   Go for it. 15:50  |  Nick Ferriman 08/10/07
  56.   What Abbas can accept 15:51  |  Tosefta 08/10/07
  57.   Margie, what is your alternative? 16:12  |  Ibrahim 08/10/07
  58.   # 37 KMS 16:12  |  Igor 08/10/07
  59.   More baloney from Haaretz 16:13  |  Sidney 08/10/07
  60.   David, where have you been... 16:14  |  Ibrahim 08/10/07
  61.   Eldar`s traitorous remarks supporting Walt- Mearsheimer 16:17  |  Shalom Freedman 08/10/07
  62.   # 41 Hannah.ru - You are anti-Semite regardless 16:24  |  17 08/10/07
  63.   dyinglikeflies: don`t be too sure 16:29  |  KMS 08/10/07
  64.   Let`s Give It Another Try 16:29  |  Jane 08/10/07
  65.   Jane 16:43  |  Star of David 08/10/07
  66.   Peace versus the anti-Israel Tsunami. 16:45  |  Fortuna Benmayor 08/10/07
  67.   Margie # 48 16:48  |  Guido 08/10/07
  68.   # 63 KMS You love for history iscommendable. 16:48  |  17 08/10/07
  69.   #63, Wrong and wrong again 16:53  |  Sidney 08/10/07
  70.   Ibrahim 16:55  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 08/10/07
  71.   Yaacov...if the Holy one loves the Jews, why didn`t 16:56  |  German 08/10/07
  72.   355 nick believes the arabs can deliver more than paper promises 16:56  |  victor hardman 08/10/07
  73.   #17 regarding anti-Semitism. 16:58  |  KMS 08/10/07
  74.   Abbas also expressed his support for sex offender Haim Ramon`s 17:01  |  Joseph E . 08/10/07
  75.   Shalom Freedman`s support for Jewish fascism 17:02  |  KMS 08/10/07
  76.   Guido: you poor 17:02  |  Star of David 08/10/07
  77.   Ibrahim...re Margie 17:04  |  KMS 08/10/07
  78.   Imagine a non-Atlanticist Israel 17:06  |  Rowan Berkeley 08/10/07
  79.   WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO RETURN TO OUR HOMES AND LAND 17:07  |  Palestinian forever 08/10/07
  80.   To dyinglikeflies # 12 17:09  |  Fortuna Benmayor 08/10/07
  81.   #17-you confuse between Jewish and Israelite 17:10  |  KMS 08/10/07
  82.