Mitchell Tries His Hand at Damage Control in Amman; Clinton Backtracks in Morocco

American Mideast envoy George Mitchell met Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas in Amman on Monday where he tried to convince him that Secretary of State Clinton’s comments praising Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for making “unprecedented concessions” on the settlement issue did not signal a change of policy by the Obama administration. Palestinians were furious at Clinton’s comments, which stood in stark contrast to nine months of agreement with the Palestinian position that there is no justification for any building whatsoever in Israeli communities located on land acquired in the 1967 war.  Over the weekend, Clinton appeared to do an abrupt u-turn, praising Netanyahu and explaining the Israeli position in terms more often heard from Israeli negotiators. Reaction to Clinton’s comments came fast and furious, and included a number of suggestions of Clinton colluding at different levels with the Israelis. Palestinians were most upset by Clinton’s statement that a total building freeze was not a prerequisite for negotiations. Palestinian chief negotiator told reporters that ‘Abbas reiterated that there will be no talks until there is a total freeze in place, saying it’s “not a precondition,” it’s an obligation under the Road Map peace plan. For her part, Clinton flew on to Morocco for talks with Arab leaders. In those conversations, she reportedly did her best to mitigate the matter, telling Arab ministers that Israel needs to do more on the settlement issue and that the Netanyahu concessions she praised while in Israel “fall short of [the Obama administration’s] position.”  Reaction from the Arab ministers apparently also fell short of Clinton’s expectations. 

Karzai Sets Out as Corruption-Fighter, Seeking to Earn Respect

Afghanistan’s election commission cancelled Saturday’s run-off election after Dr. Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the race and confirmed incumbent President Hamid Karzai’s victory. Amid charges of vote-fraud so significant that Karzai was compelled to accept a run-off, issues of corruption during is previous term in office became even greater. After being certified as the winner of the election, Karzai answered the confirmation with a vow to clean up the government and remove the “stigma of corruption.” Many felt the apparent indecision by President Obama over whether to send additional troops to Afghanistan was exacerbated by the negative fallout from the charges of election fraud and irregularities in his previous government. On Monday, Obama called for Karzai to work hard at eradicating corruption. 

U.K., France Suggest Alternative to Security Council or ICC for Goldstone Report

Britain and France, with support from the European Union, are suggesting a way to detour consideration of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Goldstone report from the Security Council or International Criminal Court at The Hague back to the Council in Geneva. The controversial report accuses Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the year. Although Israel dismisses the report as biased and accuses the Council of issuing a one-sided mandate, the negative fallout affecting the Jewish state has been massive and includes issues of its image; matters of diplomacy; and legal problems such as the risk that any Israeli citizen who served in the army during the Gaza operation can be arrested and charged with war crimes by a third-party country whose domestic laws permit such action. The French-British recommendation is that Israel and the Palestinians agree to hold investigations into the war crimes allegations; that the matter not be sent to the Security Council or to the ICC; and that the report be handled solely by the Human Rights Council in Geneva.  The European Union has reportedly told Arab leaders that EU member nations will abstain from any ensuing resolution if the French-British conditions are not accepted. 

Israel Frees 6 More Hamas VIPs Sparking Shalit Speculation

Speculation is rife that a deal to repatriate captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is imminent with word that six more Hamas-linked VIP prisoners have been released from Israeli jails. All of those released are members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and all were arrested after the June 2006 cross border raid in which Shalit was taken prisoner. Of 46 PLC members taken as bargaining chips to secure Shalit’s release, 15 are still being held by Israel. Monday’s release brings to seven the number set free this week, heightening speculation that Shalit himself will be released as part of a prisoner swap still  to be announced.

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