Abbas has proven he's a partner for peace
With a series of important, courageous statements, Mahmoud Abbas has made clear that the Palestinians have a pragmatic leader who is offering Israel a chance not to be missed.
The meeting in Ramallah on Thursday between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a Meretz party delegation once again underlined the fact that Israel does have a partner for peace talks. With a series of important, courageous statements, Abbas proved that the Palestinians have a pragmatic leader who aspires to a peace agreement and is willing to take meaningful measures in order to create a new and better situation in the region.
Abbas did not avoid any topic; he expressed clear positions on issues that are considered controversial. He emphasized that a Palestinian declaration of the end of the conflict would be part of the peace agreement. “People say that after signing a peace agreement we will still demand Haifa, Acre and Safed,” he said. “That is not true. Signing the agreement will signal the end of the conflict.”
The Palestinian president further clarified that in any peace settlement the Palestinian state would agree to be demilitarized. “We don’t need planes or missiles. All we need is a strong police force,” Abbas said. He even revealed that during earlier negotiations with then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, there was an agreement to station American soldiers in the West Bank.
Abbas said the Palestinians would accept changes to the 1967 borders as part of land swap agreements, saying, “Let’s lay down a map and start marking the borders.” He also did not reject the possibility that some Jewish settlements could remain under Palestinian sovereignty after the signing of an accord.
Regarding the Israeli desire for an interim agreement, Abbas emphasized that while his goal was to reach a final agreement that would thwart the "various elements looking for ways to sabotage things and derail the process," he was "willing to implement the process in stages ... just as you did in the agreement with Egypt over the withdrawal from Sinai."
The positions laid out by Abbas underline the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must not treat the entire process as if it were a tax that must be paid to Uncle Sam. "We wanted the meetings between negotiating teams to take place every day or every other day, and not once a week or every 10 days like the Israelis want," Abbas told the Meretz delegation, adding that he had no objection to meeting with Netanyahu and claiming that no progress has been made in the talks so far.
"Without peace there will be tragedies here. There is an opportunity now. Look at what’s happening all around us. Everything is in turmoil. Now is the time to reach an agreement," Abbas said.
Netanyahu's silence must not be the response to these wise remarks of Abbas. The chairwoman of the Labor Party, MK Shelly Yacimovich, is also duty bound to give the prime minister the support needed to advance the peace process. Today there is a unique opportunity to reach a historic agreement.
