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Article 1.
Jeffrey Epstein [jeeyacation@gmail.com]
2/14/2013 8:47:12 PM
Larry Summers
Washington Post
Obama to make first trip
to Israel, part of a
potential 'new
beginning' with region
Scott Wilson
President Obama will travel to Israel and
the occupied Palestinian territories next
month to make an early second-term push
for peace negotiations between two
divided governments and to assess the
broader political developments remaking
the Middle East.
It will be Obama's first trip as president
to Israel, where suspicions run high in the
aftermath of his unsuccessful early efforts
at Middle East peacemaking.
The choice of destination — one that
Obama avoided in his first term —
suggests a revival of his ambitions abroad
after a year of virtual dormancy on
foreign affairs. The timing also points to
a willingness on his part to quickly
reengage a politically volatile foreign-
Office of Terje Rod-Larsen
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HOUSE OVERSIGHT 029692
policy issue just months after winning his
second term.
But the visit will highlight how much the
region has changed since he last visited
the Middle East in his first year in office,
with the rise of Islamist governments and
the widening repercussions of civil
revolt.
After Obama helped topple Moammar
Gaddafi in Libya in 2011, many in the
region wondered when he would emerge
again to help shape the course of the
tumultuous Arab Spring, which has
replaced a pair of U.S.-allied
dictatorships with elected Islamist
governments.
Within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
much has changed since the direct peace
talks Obama inaugurated in September
2010 collapsed within weeks. Israel's
recent battle with the armed Hamas
movement in the Gaza Strip left many
predicting a wider fight in the future, as
divisions deepened within the Palestinian
and Israeli electorates over whether talks
or war would resolve the conflict.
"To make it a substantive trip that is
more than a positive photo-op would
require setting up a specific framework
for an agreement and setting a tight
deadline to achieve it," said Jeremy Ben-
Ami, the executive director of J Street, a
nonprofit group that advocates the
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creation of a Palestinian state alongside
Israel.
White House officials would not provide
a date for Obama's trip, which he will
squeeze into the tight schedule he is
building around a busy domestic agenda
that includes immigration, guns and the
economy.
But Israeli media reported that Obama is
scheduled to arrive March 20 as part of a
trip that will include a stop in Jordan,
where the civil war in next-door Syria
and its growing refugee crisis is
presenting a major challenge to King
Abdullah II, a U.S. ally.
Obama began his first term by making a
strong push for peace talks between Israel
and the Palestinians, believing the
conflict fueled radicalism in the region in
general and toward the United States in
particular, given its historical support for
the Jewish state.
In contrast to predecessor George W.
Bush, Obama wanted to demonstrate to
Arab governments that the United States
would make demands of Israel in pursuit
of a regional peace agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu made little secret of his
preference for Republican Mitt Romney
in last year's U.S. presidential campaign.
Netanyahu and Obama have at times
disagreed bitterly over issues relating to
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the Palestinians, including Israel's
continued settlement construction in the
West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel's military occupied those
territories, along with Gaza, in the 1967
Arab-Israeli war. Palestinians view them
as the key territorial elements of their
future state.
In a June 2009 address in Cairo, a speech
that asked for a "new beginning" with the
Islamic world, Obama said: "The United
States does not accept the legitimacy of
continued Israeli settlements." He also
did not stop in Israel on that trip, instead
visiting Saudi Arabia, Egypt and
Germany, where he emphasized the
horror of the Holocaust and the moral
imperative of defending Israel. Romney,
among others, made the omission a
campaign issue.
But on regional security issues, Obama
and Netanyahu have deepened
cooperation amid rising U.S. military aid
to Israel. Obama has agreed with
Netanyahu that Iran must not be allowed
to use its uranium-enrichment program to
develop a nuclear weapon, an issue that
the two will discuss during Obama's
visit.
Netanyahu's Likud party emerged from
elections last month as the largest bloc in
Israel's parliament, meaning that he will
serve another term as prime minister. But
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a surprisingly strong showing by a new
centrist party is likely to put more
pressure on him to pursue talks.
"It was a mistake for Obama not to go in
the first term at a time when it could have
affected Israeli public opinion of him,
and now, it has hardened against him to a
point that I don't believe it can," said
Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations who served
as a senior Middle East adviser to Bush.
Obama's visit will coincide with growing
concern in the region that the two-state
solution favored by him is in peril, as
Israeli settlement construction continues
and as the Islamist Hamas gains clout
within the once-secular Palestinian
nationalist movement. Hamas emerged
stronger politically from the recent clash
with Israel and continues to reject the
Jewish state's right to exist.
Hamas and its secular rival Fatah are due
to meet Saturday as part of a
reconciliation process. If an agreement is
reached and Hamas joins the Palestinian
Authority, Obama will be faced with an
awkward decision on whether to meet
with a government that includes members
of a U.S.-
designated terrorist movement.
As he begins again in the region, Obama
will be advised by new Secretary of State
John F. Kerry. He has also named former
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senator Chuck Hagel as defense
secretary, a nomination still in question
after an unsteady performance by the
candidate before the Senate Armed
Services Committee last week that
focused in part on his past criticism of
Israel.
"This trip is a signal that the president
has an interest, not just in the peace issue,
but also in the broader concerns that
Israel is facing," said Dennis Ross, a
senior Middle East adviser to Obama
during his first term who is at the
Washington Institute for Near East
Policy. "In some ways, it will be the
president traveling to Israel to ask for a
new beginning."
Article 2.
Foreign Policy
Saeb Erekat - The Peace
Processor
An interview by Aaron David Miller
February 5, 2013 -- Other than Mahmoud
Abbas, Saeb Erekat could be the most
recognizable Palestinian on the planet.
The chief Palestinian negotiator is
certainly among the most passionate in
promoting the cause. And nobody on the
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Palestinian side knows the substance of
the issues or the negotiating history
better.
I first met Erekat in the late 1980s, while
working on the Palestinian issue for then
Secretary of State George Shultz. Back
then, the U.S.-educated diplomat was
already showing the brashness and
outspokenness that would make him one
of the most memorable -- if exasperating
-- of the Palestinians with whom we
dealt.
He annoyed then Secretary of State
James Baker by wearing his kaffiyeh
around his shoulders at the opening of the
Madrid Peace Conference in October
1991. And over the years, he continued to
annoy the Israelis too with his fiery
performances on CNN -- though to this
day, key Israeli negotiators, such as Isaac
Molho, continue to praise his pragmatism
at the bargaining table.
It was Erekat's academic bent, analytical
chops, and capacity to write in English
that would make him so indispensable to
the only Palestinian who really counted
in those days -- Yasir Arafat. Erekat was
a unique figure -- neither a fighter (no
nom de guerre for him), nor a PLO
insider, nor an organization man from
Tunis. Rather, he was a West Banker
from Jericho, and he succeeded in
maintaining his relevance in a Palestinian
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political scene dominated not by fellow
academics, but by hard men defined by
struggle and intrigue. During the heady
days of the peace process, he became a
key point of contact for the Americans,
the Israelis, the Arabs, and much of the
rest of the international community.
I came to know Erekat not only as a
negotiator, but as a person. He sent his
kids to Seeds of Peace, a conflict
resolution and coexistence organization
that I ran briefly after leaving the State
Department, and my daughter befriended
his and stayed with the Erekats in
Jericho. Saeb and I have yelled at each
other, defended our respective positions,
laughed, and mourned opportunities that
were never adequately explored. But
through it all, what he said about himself
was true: He wasn't as pro-Palestinian or
pro-Israeli as much as he was pro-peace.
That peace has proven elusive to this day.
But with all our differences -- and there
are many -- I believe Erekat believes in
its possibility. Who else would list as an
"objective" on his resume: "Solve the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on a two
state negotiated solution through
diplomatic offices"?
If, or perhaps when, another effort to
negotiate a deal is made, one thing is
clear -- Erekat will be in the middle of it.
Last week, he agreed to answer my
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questions on the past and future of the
Israeli-Palestinian problem.
FP: What were your best and worst
moments in the Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations, and what was the greatest
missed opportunity?
Saeb Erekat: Though I was not the chief
negotiator at that moment, the connection
between [then Prime Minister Yitzhak]
Rabin and President Arafat made
everyone around them, including myself,
feel that peace was possible. There was
significant progress in all tracks until
Rabin's assassination by an Israeli
terrorist -- after he was killed, no Israeli
leader had the vision to understand that
the window of opportunity for a two-state
solution would close as fast as they
continued their colonization policies.
The missed opportunity has definitely
been Israel throwing away the Arab
Peace Initiative, which offers
normalization of relations of 57 countries
with Israel in exchange for Israeli
withdrawal to the 1967 border. They
threw it away by bombing Gaza, by
intensifying collective punishments, and
by increasing settlement construction all
over the occupied West Bank,
particularly in and around Occupied East
Jerusalem.
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FP: 2013 is the 20th anniversary of the
Oslo negotiations. What was Oslo's
greatest success, and its greatest failure?
SE: The fact that, two decades after Oslo,
we are still a nation under occupation
shows that Israeli governments did derail
it. The interim accords were not supposed
to last for 20 years but only five. After
that, we were going to enjoy freedom and
sovereignty.
But Israel increased its settlement
expansion. In fact, within 20 years, the
number of settlers almost tripled. The
institution-building efforts led by the
Palestinian government have been
completely undermined by the lack of
freedom. This situation cannot continue.
Oslo succeeded in bringing back 250,000
Palestinians from the diaspora and
building the capacity for our state. The
international community failed though,
by granting Israel an unprecedented
culture of impunity that allowed them to
use negotiations as a means to continue
rather than stop colonization.
FP: What is the most important
thing Israelis don't understand about
Palestinians?
SE: That we are not going anywhere. As
simple as that. We are not going to
disappear just because their government
builds an annexation wall around us.
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They should close their eyes and imagine
their state within 10 years time. What do
they see? If they continue their policies,
they are going to officially adopt the form
of an apartheid regime, which I think is
not what many Israelis want.
FP: What is the most important thing
Palestinians have learned about Israelis?
SE: That Israelis will not take back the
ships that brought them here to leave
somewhere else. We got to understand
that we have to live side by side. The
rules of engagement, though, cannot be
those of apartheid, but those of freedom.
FP: What do you expect from the next
Israeli government on the peace process?
SE: I don't think there is room for
optimism, but our position hasn't
changed. We don't see any other solution
than a two-state solution. Any Israeli
government that recognizes this fact and
respects what previous governments have
agreed upon should become a partner for
peace.
FP: Is Hamas-Fatah unity possible, and
what would the impact be on the future of
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations?
SE: We expect to have progress in the
near future, with Hamas allowing the
Central Elections Commission to register
new voters in Gaza. I believe there is
political agreement -- in fact, there is a
signed agreement. We expect to have
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elections as soon as possible, which is the
right way to solve our differences: Let
our people decide, those in Palestine as
well as our people in the Diaspora.
Having said so, Hamas has recognized
the Palestine Liberation Organization as
the sole and legitimate representative of
the Palestinian people, including its
mandate to negotiate a final status
agreement with Israel. Once that is
achieved, we expect to hold a national
referendum.
FP: How would you describe Egypt's
role in the peace process now? What do
you expect from President Barack
Obama's administration with regards to
the peace process?
SE: Egypt has played a central role, and
continues to do so. We trust that Egypt,
under President Mohamed Morsy's
leadership, will continue to play a strong
role because Palestine and Egypt have a
common interest in achieving peace.
President Obama had stated that he has a
personal commitment to bring peace to
the Middle East. We, the Egyptians, and
the rest of the Arab world tell him that we
are ready for peace. We have the Arab
Peace Initiative. This goes in line with
the stated U.S. national interest.
Washington's failure to explicitly say that
Israel is to blame for choosing
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settlements over peace has contributed to
Israel's culture of impunity.
FP: Can America be an effective broker
in negotiations?
SE: If the U.S. decides to be an honest
broker, it could not only be effective but
in fact could bring real peace to the
region, a just and lasting one. The U.S.
has a moral obligation toward the
Palestinian people, who have been under
occupation and living in exile for
decades.
FP: Is a two state solution still possible?
SE: Yes, but only if there is a political
will. So far, Israel's will is about
colonization, and the international
community has failed to put an end to
decades of double standards by treating
Israel as a state above the law. We don't
see any other solution than a two-state
solution, though Israel is taking us to a
one-state reality.
Aaron David Miller is a distinguished
scholar at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars.
Article 3.
The Daily Beast
The Mixed Legacy Of
Shimon Peres
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Daniel Gavron
Feb 4, 2013 -- Now that he has finished
his consultations with the country's
political parties and charged Benjamin
Netanyahu with forming a new coalition,
Israel's respected President, Shimon
Peres, is once again very much in the
news. In his speech inviting Netanyahu to
form the next government, the President
spoke forcefully about peace and even
seemed to influence Bibi to mention
peace, a word he never used in his
election campaign. Peres has rightly
earned respect for this from many
quarters, but now, as the coalition is
being formed, it might be a good time to
examine one aspect of Israel's political
culture: the lack of respect for the task of
a parliamentary opposition. Peres is at
least partly to blame for this, as he almost
always preferred to join various
administrations—even as a junior
partner—rather than lead the opposition,
ofen citing "our grave situation" and
"national responsibility." Now is surely
a better time to criticize Peres than in
June, when the world (maybe even
including President Barack Obama) will
be coming here to celebrate his 90th
birthday. Then, surely, everyone will be
paying deserved tribute to the wisdom of
this elder statesman and prophet of peace,
and it would be a shame to spoil the
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party. So let's clear the air right now,
well before the festivities. Before we get
to the matter of coalition politics, which
is very much on our minds right now as
Netanyahu struggles to put together a
government, let us consider the other
negative part of the Peres legacy: his stint
as Defense Minister under Prime Minister