Israel Proposes ‘Let Us Make Peace Together’

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu today announcing a 10-month temporary suspension of home construction and permits in the occupied West Bank (but not in the East Jerusalem area, which is the most important and hotly contested area of Israel/Palestine.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has just announced that his government coalition has agreed to a “policy of restraint” in occupied Palestine – a temporary, limited suspension of construction “permits and starts” on settlers’ homes in the West Bank, during which Israel and Palestine would presumably enter into a formal peace process. The 10-month moratorium will be limited to home construction in the West Bank and will not include any restrictions on building in Palestinian East Jerusalem nor on public buildings such as synagogues and schools.

The proposal received a qualified endorsement from the United States and immediate condemnation from the Palestinian National Authority – which considers East Jerusalem the capital of the future Palestinian state. Politicians from the pro-settlement Israeli right-wing were outraged, with one accusing Netanyahu of “spitting in the faces” of the settler community. All of this was expected, as the moratorium was the worst-kept secret in the Middle East last week and follows the start and/or announcement of more than 3,500 new settlement homes this year. Still, it’s an important and brave step by Netanyahu to buck his coalition of the nationalist and religious right. As Netanyahu put it, “Let us make peace together.”

Live blogging from the announcement on television:

“This is not an easy step, it is a painful step, but we take it out of broad national interests….

I have said many times that I intend to act with the American administration and our friends around the world to achieve a stable and safe peace agreement for Israel….

I have said I will go anywhere in the world to talk peace. I said that the main problem is not whether we, Israel, agree to a Palestinian state, I said it’s whether the Palestinians will accept a Jewish state,… a demilitarized Palestinian state that accepts Israel as the state of the Jewish people….

Today we’ve added a diplomatic step. I said before we will not build new settlements or seize more land, I said we will be ready to limit building for a limted period of time. This is a difficult step for me and my colleagues. I’m convinced that leadership is the ability to take the right decision or take the right steps.

I’ve promised in the past to allow 300,000 of our brothers, Israeli brothers to [live in Judea and Samaria.] We will not stop ongoing building for residents; we wil continue to build synagogues and schools.

As for Jerusalem, our capital, my position is well known: I do not impose any restriction on bulilding in Jerusalem. I also want to maintain freedom of worship in Jerusalem …. for Jews and Arabs.”

[To the Palestinians:] The Israeli public expects you to take a brave step too. Come with us to make peace together.”

Yesterday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Associated Press: “Its aim is to open a window for renewing negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Watch an excellent BBC video with Palestinian reaction on this here.

Here’s some more live blogging from U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell’s press conference following the Netanyahu announcement:

“It falls short of a full settlement freeze, but it is more than any Israeli government has done before and can help lead to an agreement between the parties…. It is in the national security interests of the United States. It is urgently needed.” He added emphatically that the U.S. doesn’t view continued Israeli settlements as legitimate.

UPDATE: The State Dept. has posted the text of Mitchell’s statement here. Note this part of his statement:

We recognize that the Palestinians and other Arabs are concerned because Israel’s moratorium permits the completion of buildings already started and limits the effect of the moratorium to the West Bank – concerns which we share.

As to Jerusalem, United States policy remains unaffected and unchanged. As has been stated by every previous administration which addressed this issue, the status of Jerusalem and all other permanent status issues must be resolved by the parties through negotiations.

The United States also disagrees with some Israeli actions in Jerusalem affecting Palestinians in areas such as housing, including the continuing pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes. The United States has not accepted and disagrees with any unilateral action by either party which could have the effect of preempting negotiations. As we and others have said many times, the way to move forward is to enter negotiations without preconditions and reach agreements on the two-state solution: a Jewish state of Israel living side by side in peace and security with an independent, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued this statement:

”Today’s announcement by the government of Israel helps move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Clinton said. ”We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.”

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