Israeli redeployment to take place, the Mordechai factor
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 6/17/1998

Not a single Palestinian official could confirm reports coming from Israel that the second phase redeployment is on the verge of implementation.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed hopes that the Israeli government would accept the US initiative "so that the peace process can be put back on track." Erekat said that reports have been arriving almost daily from Israel talking of an imminent breakthrough, "but they all are forms of propaganda issued by Netanyahu's office. For months, Netanyahu has been procrastinating. He will remain so pending the summer vacation of the Israeli Knesset which will begin on the 29th of July." Many believe that Netanyahu wants to wait until the start of the Knesset's summer vacation in order to avoid any no-confidence motions against his government should he go ahead with the second phase redeployment of his troops in the West Bank.

But on the Israeli side, things seem, perhaps for the first time, moving rapidly towards a breakthrough. A poll conducted by Israel's largest circulation daily, Yediot Ahornot, showed on Wednesday that 59 percent of the Israelis support a 13 percent second phase redeployment in the West Bank while only 36 percent oppose it. A question on whether Israel should continue the implementation of the Oslo Accords showed that 74 percent of the Israelis back the agreements and 24 percent were against. The poll was published amid rising reports from within the Israeli government that Prime Minister Netanyahu has finally made up his mind to go ahead with the 13 percent withdrawal from the West Bank.

Netanyahu himself denied that an agreement in principle has been reached about the scope of the second phase. He told the Army Radio on Tuesday that there was no reason to act under pressure during the talks with the Palestinians. "We're not putting a gun to our heads. I'm interested in completing this agreement as quickly as it can be done, but I'm not prepared to race ahead with an agreement which is still not an agreement," he said.

Israeli sources confirmed that Netanyahu has recently come under heavy pressure both from within and from without. His defense minister, Yitzhak Mordechai has reportedly given him another ultimatum. Five months ago, Mordechai threatened to resign if the government did not adopt a decision on the second redeployment in three months. When the ultimatum was over, Mordechai said the issue was being on top of government interest and was being discussed at the highest levels. When it became clear that Mordechai was not going to carry out his threat, some members of Peace Now movement went out to demonstrate in front of the Tel Aviv Museum, calling on him to resign from the government.Following these public demonstrations, Mordechai said that he doesn't intend to resign, due to his belief that after he issued his threat, and because of the pressure he exerted, the government decided in principle to carry out the second phase.

Lately, the way Netanyahu has been handling the talks with the Palestine National Authority seemed unconvincing to Mordechai who apparently was forced to reiterate his threats. In a closed meeting between the two a few days ago, it was Mordechai who pressured Netanyahu to decide immediately on the second phase withdrawal. "It is possible to wait for another few days, maybe a week, with this decision, but it is wrong to wait until the end of the Knesset summer session," said Mordechai in the meeting, causing a fury among top aides to the prime minister.

Officials in Netanyahu's office said this kind of statement did not reflect much wisdom. "They weaken Israel's position in the negotiations precisely because Mordechai knows what's going on in the negotiations; he knows that the prime minister and his emissaries are working night and day without pause to complete the negotiations," they said.

"The ingredients are ready, and if they're taken off the fire, they're liable to slide," Mordechai said. He noted that a double-digit second phase agreement ought to be reached, and that unilateral actions, be they by the Palestinian government or Israel, are to be avoided, including the establishment of new settlements. Mordechai also recommended that the scope of the third phase be determined by a joint, Palestinian-Israeli committee. "The whole world is against us, with regard to the peace process with the Palestinians," he said.

Mordechai was more outspoken than his chief of staff who tried to voice some political reservations during last week's Cabinet session but was silenced by Netanyahu. The chief of staff, Amnon Shahak, tried to explain to the ministers that the continued impasse in the peace process would cause a violent explosion in the Palestinian territories but could not continue his report when Netanyahu interrupted and ordered him to shut up.

Mordechai, who did not come out in defense of his chief of staff in the meeting, found himself in an embarrassing situation as he came under fire from senior army officers for failing to back his top brass commanders. In the same closed meeting with Netanyahu, Mordechai repeated Shahak's warnings and said the continuation of the impasse in negotiations with the Palestinians could lead to unrest and violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Outside pressure on Netanyahu came from Jordan, Egypt and the US. The latest round of talks King Hussein of Jordan held in Washington with President Bill Clinton and the warnings Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak made during a visit to Cairo by Israeli opposition Labor Party leader Ehud Barak have added up to the diplomatic pressure on Israel. Mubarak told Barak that the continued impasse in the peace process could lead to a violent outbreak in the region. It is because of the overall result of the diplomatic pressure on Israel, Israeli sources said, that Netanyahu decided to move ahead and to accept two major elements in the US initiative for the second redeployment.

The sources confirmed that Netanyahu accepted the 13.1 percent scale of withdrawal that the US demanded and agreed to skip Israeli demands that Palestinians wanted by Israel be extradited by the Palestinian government.

Previous Stories:
  US denies Netanyahu's approval of redeployment plan   (6/16/1998)
  Barak to Mubarak: majority of Israelis for peace process reactivation   (6/15/1998)
  Erekat is pessimistic, while al-Baz is certain of redeployment   (6/8/1998)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search