Kerry Will Draw a Little Nearer to Israeli Stances

There is not a single minister — except for Livni perhaps — who thinks negotiations will end with an agreement in April. Indeed, we have not even begun to discuss the heart of the matter, and we have found ourselves occupied just with the checkpoints on the border with Jordan. However, Kerry is obsessed and will try again to push us a little bit forward.

Netanyahu and Kerry have already sat together for many long hours; we can be certain what the atmosphere was like. The prime minister is convinced that Obama and Kerry have sold Israel to Iran at Geneva in a kind of traitor’s pact, and he is not alone in his belief. The outrage is enormous.

This awareness will affect the situation, as many of the wise ones among us have said. Kerry is here again; this time, he will try to push forward the stalled negotiations with the Palestinians. A month and a half ago, Maariv produced a series of headlines and articles that exposed what really happens inside the negotiation rooms. We reported that the discussions between the two sides focus on a single topic — security measures in the Jordan Valley.

Israel insists on permanently placing the Israeli Defense Forces on the border with Jordan in order to oversee access routes to the Palestinian state, if such a state were to come into being. The Palestinians are decisively opposed to this arrangement. In their opinion, it would be an insult to the very essence of an independent state. For dozens of years, the Palestinians have also rejected the Israeli request to lease the land from them. They are demanding full sovereignty in the valley, evacuation of all the settlements and a Palestinian army presence at all the crossings.

The negotiations are racing to a dead end. On Oct. 14, Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered an address to the Knesset. “Above all else, I see before me the importance of defense and border security,” he explained. Government ministers who oppose the Palestinian state are contending today that Netanyahu trapped himself.

“The second you give the Palestinians an independent state — even a demilitarized one — you forfeit your borders. If you don’t want to forfeit your security and your borders, you can’t give them a state,” said one senior minister.

Kerry will come with his bag full of formulas for compromise on the issues surrounding security arrangements, which he and his people have worked on over the last few weeks. The secretary of state is likely to recommend a presence of international forces in the Jordan Valley, including modern sensors and warning systems, but Netanyahu is not willing to hear this, and he is convinced that the public is with him.

So, what will happen in the end? Government opinions are split. First of all, there is not a single minister — except for Livni perhaps — who thinks negotiations will end with an agreement in April. Indeed, we have not even begun to discuss the heart of the matter, and we have found ourselves occupied just with the checkpoints on the border with Jordan. Second, there is not a single government minister — excluding Livni — who thinks there has been progress in the negotiations. Third, the ministers are divided on Kerry’s relationship with Israel on the subject of the Palestinians.

The widespread opinion is that Kerry will discover a little more sympathy for Israeli stances after the bitter pill we swallowed at Geneva. “The Americans won’t strike us twice,” as one of the ministers said. Others have asserted that Kerry is obsessive on the subject of negotiation. One way or another, it will be a stormy week politically.