06 July 2010 By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid Israeli delegations have flocked to Cairo, while
numerous official statements have been issued from the
official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu who is today packing his bags for his visit
to Washington. This meeting was postponed just days
before it was scheduled to be held due to the
confrontation surrounding the Gaza-bound Freedom
Flotilla. Perhaps there is nothing new on Israel's agenda;
however an Israeli official did describe Netanyahu's
scheduled meeting with US President Barack Obama as
being an event that will change the history of the
region. So what is this news that will change history?
This could be nothing more than propaganda, an attempt
to attract attention to a visit that has already been
postponed once before, and which was preceded by a
visit that ranks among the worst in the history of US
– Israeli relations, to the point that the White House
refused to allow any photographs of this meeting
between Netanyahu and Obama to be published. Or this
could be an attempt to hype-up any political
concessions that Netanyahu will offer in order to ease
the mounting international pressure on Israel,
especially after Europe revealed its project to
support the establishment of a Palestinian State if
Israel continues to hamper negotiations. This step
shocked the Israeli government, and Tel Aviv consider
this to be one of the most dangerous ideas to be
proposed, namely the implementation of a two-state
solution with the establishment of a Palestinian
state, whether this is through negotiations or not.
Netanyahu could say that he ruined the region in a
historic manner. He has helped Arab and Islamist
extremists to emerge in the region at the expense of
moderates. He weakened Mahmoud Abbas's government, and
distorted its reputation among its own citizens,
despite all of its efforts to institute domestic
reform and promote a peaceful solution to the
Palestinian – Israeli conflict. Netanyahu also spoiled
the crucial relationship between Israel and Egypt, and
pushed others like moderate Turkey towards the
inclination of Iran, Hamas and others. Regardless of Netanyahu's agenda in Washington and
his promise of "historic change" enthusiasm has waned
due to Israel's stalling and procrastination, and as a
result of the US administration's failure to manifest
a political figure capable of getting things on the
ground. Due to Netanyahu's bad reputation, there is
not much hope that his visit will live up to this
promise. As for the Arab side, it is spreading despair, and
the extremists are exerting pressure in order to
prevent the option of direct negotiations. Even the
Palestinian Authority, which is most in need of
negotiations and peaceful solutions, has begun to
avoid talking about its desire for this, and has
publicly rejected direct negotiations even though it
does not have any other options. If President Obama does not want a battle with the
Israeli lobby at a time that the US mid-term elections
are fast approaching, then he must at least allow the
Europeans to try their project to vote in favor of the
establishment of a Palestinian state, and for this
issue to take its legal course through the corridors
of the United Nations. The Europeans are eager to test
the idea of establishing a Palestinian State via the
UN, in a form that is expected to be accepted by all
countries in the world except for Netanyahu's Israel.
This is a Palestinian state within the pre-1967
borders in the Gaza Strip, along with the return of
the Golan Heights to Syria. This is the same form
adopted by the Arabs in the historic Arab Peace
Initiative, and endorsed by an international majority,
in return for which the Arab states officially
recognize Israel and formally announce the end of the
conflict. Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai. Comments 💬 التعليقات |