WHERE TO NOW?

By Simon Fischler



The new joke going around the Middle East is the Palestinians’ new plan … to accept the 1947 partition plan!

Just a few wars and thousands of deaths late, no?

PA big shot Nabil Shaath graced the media with this brilliant new plan for the Palestinians to bypass negotiating an honest peace with Israel.

This desperate and borderline embarrassing political ploy is being floated because the Palestinian Authority has realized that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are not falling for Palestinian threats to go to the United Nations and declare a unilateral Palestinian State.

American President Barack Obama, the most favorable U.S. President the Palestinians have ever had, has come out against any unilateral Palestinian moves. Along with the Americans the important nations of the E.U. have also come out against Palestinian unilateralism.

On the surprising other hand, after months of wasting negotiating time, P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas now says he wants to negotiate with Israel and prefers this to unilaterally declaring a Palestinian State!

So what are the Palestinians waiting for?

Do they not understand that this Israeli government (that has the backing of the majority of Israel’s citizens, liberals like me included) is never going to agree to their incessant preconditions for negotiations?

Does Obama also not get it?

Obama and his administration are pressuring Bibi to agree to a peace initiative based on the 1967 borders -- pressure supposedly being applied to “help” Israel. In reality it is being applied to help an American administration that has made mistake after mistake in its handling of Middle East policy.

It is not Israel that will be embarrassed if the Palestinians go to the UN in September; it will be Barack Obama and his administration.

This administration has singlehandedly undermined Israel to appease the Palestinians and have gotten nothing -- nada, zero, zilch -- from them in return.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done an admirable job of withstanding American and European pressure to offer concessions that will hurt Israel.

While doing this Netanyahu, has made it clear he and his supposedly far right government are ready to recognize a Palestinian State on most of the land of Judea and Samaria.

The onus is on Obama now.

If he wants to save himself an humiliating embarrassment, and possibly his reelection, he better tell Mahmoud Abbas and friends to get back to the negotiating table.

Soon ... chop, chop ... ASAP ... Dude, like now.