The Jewish Week Page 1 of 3 Click Here to Print (11/24/2006) The Dangers Of A Vacuum As Europe pushes new peace plan, Israel skeptical, analysts say. Joshua Mitnick - Israel Correspondent Tel Aviv As Kassam rockets continued to rain down on southern Israel this week, a rising tide of critics is debating the dangers of a diplomatic vacuum and whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should be embarking on a new peace initiative. If Hamas and Fatah form a unity government, should Israel do business with it? And if European countries begin pushing a peace proposal calling for an international conference and international peacekeepers to Gaza, would Israel be willing to discuss it? What is the price of doing nothing at all? “The forces of resistance against Israel have been able to block Israel politically and to deny it decisive military victories, ” said Gidi Grinstein, a member of the Israeli negotiations team at the 2000 Camp David peace summit and the president of the Tel Aviv-based Reut Institute. “In the absence of a diplomatic initiative there is no prospect for reversing that trend. Israel needs to come up with a comprehensive approach that will realize its potential alliance with the moderate forces in the region, to counter the threat of radical Islam. ” A simple telephone call between Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week was sufficient to raise a political firestorm with Olmert, but amid the bickering the call also sharpened the question of whether Israel should be using diplomacy to silence the rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip. In a press statement, Labor Knesset Member Colette Avital, the former Israeli consul general in New York, called on her party to come forward with a diplomatic plan of its own. “Only through a diplomatic initiative can we stop the cycle of blood, ” she said in a statement. “There is no doubt that we ’ve become deadlocked, and we should make every effort before the situation deteriorates. We must not leave a vacuum which others will rush to fill, and we must not be dragged along by international initiatives. ” Last week, Abbas ’ Fatah Party and Hamas agreed on a new prime minister, an important step forward amid months of deadlock on unity government talks. The choice of Mohammed Shubeir, the former head of Hamas-sponsored Islamic University in Gaza, signaled the formation of a new cabinet with Hamas representatives from the margins of the Islamist movement. And even though the policy platform of the new government remains an unknown because talks bogged down once again this week, Israeli policy makers will have to formulate a new approach that anticipates a possible softening in the international policy toward the unity government. http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13305&print=yes 11/23/2006 The Jewish Week Page 2 of 3 Indeed, according to a Spanish peace initiative announced last week, the European Union would work with the new Palestinian government to meet the conditions stipulated by the international community (recognition of Israel, past peace agreements and foreswearing terrorism). However, some analysts expressed skepticism that the new unity government would make a significant enough departure from policy of the current Hamas-led government to restore ties. “On the merits, there is no difference between the situation that exists now and a national unity government, ” said Dan Scheuftan, a former adviser to the Foreign Ministry. “The people in charge of the Palestinian Authority are Hamas because they control the parliament, and because Abu Mazen is impotent. So it ’s not a serious change. ” Presumptive Prime Minister Shubeir described himself as independent of Hamas a position which many believe will give him the leeway to make critical concessions to Israel that current Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh can ’t accept. But Palestinian experts said he grew up in the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that gave birth to Hamas. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni recently signaled that the government would work with a new Palestinian cabinet if it agrees to the international conditions: foreswear violence, recognizing Israel, and recognizing previous peace agreements. “The issue is not who sits in the government, rather what the government says, ” she said in an interview with Israel Radio. “The test is not a personal test … but what they will say. And the demand is very clear. ” The elements of a Spanish peace initiative which has the support of Italy and France, and will be taken up by the European Union next month include cease-fire between Israel and militant groups, international recognition for the unity government, an international peace conference, and the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Gaza for the first time ever. Israel rejected the idea outright, complaining that it hadn ’t been consulted on the plan. Israel has traditionally opposed allowing international actors other than the U.S. mediate its dispute with Arab countries. “The only reason they want it is that Spain wants to be considered a nation of consequences, and Europe wants to feel important, ” said Scheuftan. “It rewards the Palestinians for terrorism. An international conference is a codeword for imposing a settlement on Israel in favor of the Palestinians. ” And yet, the European Union has deepened its involvement in the last year in Israeli Arab peace making, first sending monitors to the Gaza Strip border with Egypt and then volunteering troops to serve as the backbone for a bulked up UN presence in southern Lebanon. “It seems that the Europeans are being a little more assertive that they were in the past, ” said Gershon Baskin, the co-chairman of the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information. “ I don ’t see Israel accepting it right now, but if the Europeans are trying to flex their muscles it will be interesting to see what becomes of it. ” In an article published last week, Labor Knesset Member Danny Yatom, a former Mossad chief, called for talks with Abbas as well as Syrian President Bashar Assad. A continued diplomatic stalemate is likely to escalate into a military confrontation, he warned. http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13305&print=yes 11/23/2006 The Jewish Week Page 3 of 3 “A diplomatic initiative will postpone a military confrontation, and possibly prevent it all together, ” he wrote on the Ynet Web site. “Israel ’s policy has always been to talk with our enemies without preconditions, but now, preconditions are actually being presented by us. ” n Here is a list of other articles in this section Olmert Denies ‘Secret ’ Peace Plan Struggling to get process back on track, prime minister faces speculation of a private pact with Bush. Realignment Survives Neither Lebanon war nor Gaza violence chaos shall keep Ehud Olmert from his promised territorial withdrawal. Talk To Syria Now, Says Syrian Jewish Maverick Shocking letter to Olmert: ‘You have no moral permission to pass up possible peace opening, ’ writes Jack Avital. © 2000 - 2002 The Jewish Week, Inc. All rights reserved. Please refer to the legal notice for other important information. http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13305&print=yes 11/23/2006.