Omdat Israel de laatste 27 gevangenen pas vrij wilde laten als de Palestijnen zouden beloven in te stemmen met verlenging van de onderhandelingen, hebben de Palestijnen nu de kont tegen de krib gegooid en ondernemen unilateraal actie via de VN. Israel had als voorwaarde voor de onderhandelingen en het vrijlaten van de gevangenen gesteld dat de Palestijnen af zouden zien van dergelijke acties. Een bespreking tussen Kerry en Abbas afgelopen maandag is afgezegd. En Israel gaf opnieuw bouwkavels vrij voor honderden woningen in Gilo onder gunstiger voorwaarden.
Toch zegt Kerry dat de vredesbesprekingen nog niet dood zijn, en er is een nieuw ingewikkeld compromis in de maak. Hoofdkenmerk is dat Israel wel en de Palestijnen daarin geen concessies hoeven te doen. Dat komt omdat de VS Israels concessies zou afkopen met het vrijlaten van Jonathan Pollard, de spion die al ruim 28 jaar in Amerika vast zit en voor levenslang is veroordeeld. In ruil voor Pollard zou Israel niet alleen de laatste 27 gevangenen, maar ook 400 extra gevangenen die voor lichtere vergrijpen vastzitten vrijlaten, en instemmen met een gedeeltelijke bouwstop.
Veel Israelische politici veroordelen de deal, omdat de misdaad van Pollard niet te vergelijken is met de daden van de Palestijnse gevangenen en omdat de Palestijnen geen enkele concessie hoeven te doen behalve doorgaan met de vredesbesprekingen. Maar als de Palestijnen ja zeggen zal het voor Netanyahu heel moeilijk zijn het voorstel alsnog af te wijzen, zeker omdat hij er in gesprekken met de Amerikanen al min of meer mee heeft ingestemd.
RP
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Abbas signs Palestine request to join 15 UN bodies
http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-signs-palestines-application-to-join-15-un-bodies/
Officials on both sides say move doesn’t end talks; PA sources: It’s a response to Israeli refusal to release prisoners
April 1, 2014, 8:18 pm
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (R) signs a request to join 15 United Nations agencies at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 (photo credit: AFP/Abbas Monami)
In an apparent breach of understandings with the US and Israel, and with a proposed agreement to extend peace talks awaiting a Palestinian response, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday evening signed an official appeal to join 15 UN bodies.
At a PLO meeting in Ramallah, Abbas president formally requested membership in the international organizations for the “State of Palestine.”
“The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Abbas said on television after signing the demand.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Derek Stoffel tweeted Tuesday evening that the Palestinian Authority had made the move in response to Israel’s unwillingness to fulfill an obligation to release a fourth round of Palestinian prisoners, some of them Arab Israelis.
Stoffel quoted sources in Abbas’s office as saying the peace process would continue regardless of Tuesday’s move. Officials in Jerusalem were also quoted by Channel 2 news as saying that the move didn’t necessarily signal an end to the talks.
After the announcement was made, a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry was canceled, Palestinian sources said.
“We salute the American efforts. But Israel is procrastinating,” Abbas reportedly said before signing a series of documents to apply to the UN bodies.
The Palestinian leadership was convened on Tuesday evening to discuss a tripartite deal between the US, Israel and the PA, which would see Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard freed from a US prison, reportedly in exchange for a partial settlement construction freeze and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
The identity of the prisoners to be released would be decided partly by Israel and partly by the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior Likud party members on Tuesday to elaborate on the details of the plan
and enlist their support.
An official close to the negotiations said earlier Tuesday that Kerry was close to a deal that would rescue the faltering Mideast peace talks. The deal would not include a freeze on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank as the Palestinians have demanded but would envisage Israel committing to show “great restraint” and not issue new housing tenders.
The Palestinians gave the emerging proposal a cool reception, saying it fell far short of their demands for a complete halt to settlement construction and the freeing of 1,000 prisoners of their choosing.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday evening that the US had yet to decide to free Pollard.
“There are obviously a lot of things happening in that arena and I’m not going to get ahead of where we are,” he said in a press briefing. “The president has not made a decision to release Jonathan Pollard”
Times of Israel staff, AP and AFP contributed to this report.
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