Today's Situation

Safe passage, August 23, 2007

With less than two months to go before the U.S.-convened conference on the Middle East conflict, Israel released another detail of the package it is offering the Palestinian Authority as part of efforts to thrash out an agreement in principle to present to participants at the summit.

According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised the Palestinians safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Palestinian agreement to a land swap deal. According to senior diplomatic Akiva Eldar, the Palestinians would receive control of the route, but Israel would maintain sovereignty. The safe passage will only begin to operate after the Palestinian Authority, under its present leadership, reasserts control over the Gaza Strip, the report adds.

No specific areas to be exchanged were reported, and sources said details will be worked out after the principles of the plan are accepted.

'It is believed that for the Palestinians, safe passage is worth more than its nominal territory, and therefore this will be a central component in a territorial package,' Eldar comments.

At the same time, there were also reports Wednesday on what can be seen as Western pressure on Israel to move faster on an agreement with the Palestinians. In comments carried by wire services, United Nations Middle East Envoy Michael Williams accused Israel of not providing enough 'good will' measures to bolster the standing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Williams complained that freedom of movement in the West Bank 'to a very considerable extent does not exist.' Despite previous 'goodwill' measures, he expressed concern that 'we have not seen further steps.'

Meanwhile, Haaretz adds that the U.S. security coordinator for the Palestinian Authority, General Keith Dayton, is checking whether Israel is upholding its agreement to stop pursuing Fateh militants in the West Bank. A senior Western diplomat said that officers from Dayton's team have been meeting with Palestinian security officials in several West Bank cities. 'This is part of the activity to help the Palestinian security forces institute law and order,' the diplomat said.

Arutz 7 reports on comments by senior Fateh figure Abu Yousuf, in an interview with Aaron Klein of the New York Sun. According to the report, Abu Yousuf admitted that U.S. programs to train PA militias were exploited to murder Jews. 'I do not think that the operations of the Palestinian resistance would have been so successful and would have killed more than one thousand Israelis since 2000 and defeated the Israelis in Gaza without this [American] training,' said Abu Yousuf, a senior officer of President Abbas' Force 17 Presidential Guard unit.

Army Radio, meanwhile, reports that a senior IDF officer says Olmert has forbidden the army to go ahead with a plan to create a 1.5-2 km buffer strip inside the Gaza Strip. Without this buffer, he says, the Arabs hold the initiative of when, where and on what scale to wage war. As a result he expects Arabs to intensify their attacks and extend their range.

 Also on the security front, Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the Israeli Air Force will buy advanced U.S.-made Patriot PAC-3 missiles from Lockheed Martin, capable of intercepting aircraft and long-range ballistic missiles, including the type used by Syria.

The IAF is currently using the PAC-2 system, manufactured by Lockheed Martin. In the new system, each launcher is equipped with 16 missiles instead of four; each missile weighs 320 kilograms and is 5 meters in length. The decision to acquire the new system was based on the progress made by Syria and Iran in the field of fighter jets, and on the fact the Syrian army has recently obtained longer-range missiles.

Internal politics - both Israeli and Palestinian - also feature in the Israeli media on Wednesday.

Israel Radio reports on a poll, commissioned by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center, which finds that Hamas has regained popularity among PA voters and its leader, deposed prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, would almost tie Fateh leader and PA President Mahmoud Abbas if elections were held today. Abbas already has stated he will not run for re-election. Jailed Fateh leader Marwan Barghouti is running a close third.

The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, leads with a claim that sources close to Olmert say that a group of over 10 Kadima MKs are intending to split off from the prime minister's party, form their own faction and unite with the Likud. According to the sources, the move is planned for before the Second Winograd Report is released in the coming months.

Whether or not the following, final item is related to the previous one depends on the level of one's cynicism. According to Haaretz, Olmert has committed himself to involving women in all political negotiations that Israel will conduct in the future. 'I intend to include women in every group or team that deals with political negotiations in the future,' Olmert wrote in a May 17 letter to former MK Eti Livni. The comment came in response to a letter Livni sent the prime minister in April, before talks with Arab League representatives.

Today's Situation || Yesterday's Situation