Today's Situation

BARAK'S BACK IN THE HEADLINES, August 10, 2007

For the second day this week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak finds himself in the lead headline of one of Israel's leading daily newspaper. On Wednesday, Haaretz reported that Barak was conditioning a West Bank withdrawal on the development of an anti-missile system; on Friday, he was quoted by Yedioth Ahronoth as claiming that there is currently no partner for peace talks on the Palestinian side of the conflict.

According to the report, Barak has said in closed conversations that it will take between three and five years to reach an agreement with the Palestinians and that Israel will not withdraw from Judea and Samaria any sooner than that. (See full report, below.)

Reaction to Barak's comments was swift, with Labor colleague Ami Ayalon telling the party chairman at a meeting of the faction on Friday that he was sabotaging the prime minister's efforts to achieve a peace deal. According to Ynet, Ayalon told Barak: 'The Labor Party must be perceived by the public as supportive of going for diplomatic agreements. The report shows that you are sabotaging the prime minister's moves.'

In addition, Barak stated that he will not remove the roadblocks in Judea and Samaria despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's promise to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to do so. 'Olmert's meetings with Abbas will not lead to a peace treaty,' he is quoted as saying. But senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said on Friday the Palestinians were told that Barak will present a 'map' to remove the checkpoints next week.

Barak's office, meanwhile, stopped short of denying the report in its entirety, but said: 'There is no change in Barak's stance regarding the importance of the political process alongside our obligation to protect Israel's security.'

A spokesman for Olmert declined to comment on the report.

The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, leads on an apparent split within the Palestinian Fateh party over calls to renew talks with Hamas. According to the report, some senior Fateh and Hamas leaders yesterday welcomed a Yemenite offer to act as brokers in the reestablishment of the Hamas-Fateh unity government, which collapsed some six weeks ago following what amounted to a military coup by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Abbas has assured Israel and the United States that he does not intend to renew his dialog with Hamas.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other Arab nations have urged Abbas to accept the Yemenite proposal, stating that no agreement on a new Arab state can be accomplished without the inclusion of Gaza, where Hamas remains in power. Abbas has not ruleed out talking with Hamas, but said that the rival faction first must revert to the political situation that existed before its coup. 

Still on the Palestinian front, Arutz 7, quoting a report in the Arabic London-based daily al-Hayat, says that Egypt is refusing to send its security delegation back to Gaza in order to renew mediation between Israel and the groups holding abducted soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit. According to the paper, the Egyptians told Ofer Dekel, an emissary sent to Egypt by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that they do not intend to return to Gaza until things go back to 'the way they were' - presumably meaning that Hamas is overthrown by Fateh. The Egyptians reportedly told Dekel, 'the question of the situation in Gaza is more important to us than the question of Gilad Shalit.'

Finally, Army Radio reports that eight people have been wounded in a terror incident in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The incident occurred near the Latin Patriarchate. According to the report, an Arab youth tried to grab a weapon from a security man guarding a yeshiva in the area. The security man apparently shot the would-be assailant dead. The other people wounded may have been inadvertently hurt by the guard's gunfire.

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