UN bid was a new Palestinian low
THE DISMAL LOW reached by the Palestinian national cause was illustrated on Tuesday by a disgraced exconvict jailed for receiving bribes and obstructing justice. Ehud Olmert was the only political ally President Mahmoud Abbas could find for his diplomatic foray to the UN.
Mr Abbas said he was “fully ready to resume negotiations where we left it with Mr Olmert, under the umbrella of the Quartet”, as if 12 years had not elapsed since those talks broke off.
It is worth remembering those talks were overseen by George W. Bush. Then we had the Obama presidency, when Benjamin Netanyahu initially accepted the two-state solution and became the first and only Israeli PM to freeze settlement building, for nearly a year.
We had John Kerry’s quixotic attempt to broker a deal. Then Mr Trump ripped up the rulebook, recognising Israel’s claims to East Jerusalem and the settlements.
Mr Abbas is right in many of his criticisms of the Trump Plan and Mr Olmert was correct in saying that the only way the two nations can achieve peace is through direct negotiations. But the major flaws in the Trump plan, rendering it a nonstarter, do not mean the clock can be turned back.
The Palestinians have not held an election in over 12 years but Israel has held five, very soon six, and the US has had three. Mr Abbas might still be leader but political realities elsewhere have changed: The Quartet whose umbrella he yearns for exists now only on paper.
If Mr Abbas is so eager to return to 2008, it’s legitimate to ask why he turned Mr Olmert’s offer down — it included 25 per cent more West Bank land than the Trump Plan, dismantling isolated settlements, and Palestinian sovereignty in east Jerusalem and Al Aqsa.
The charitable view is that he didn’t reject Olmert but was waiting for political developments in Israel such as Mr Olmert leaving. But Mr Abbas himself said at the time that he hadn’t accepted because “the gaps were wide.” He waited 12 years for a better offer. Now he has the Trump Plan.
Mr Olmert’s motive for participating in Tuesday’s farcical event is clear: tainted by his conviction, he is desperate for rehabilitation and will do anything to try and resurrect his image as a statesman. Even his oldest friends in Israeli politics — Yair Lapid remains close — will not be seen with him in public.
But if Mr Abbas thinks he has anything to gain from holding a joint press conference with him, the Palestinians are in even bigger trouble.