Negotiations on Three Fronts

Gordon Brown and Barack Obama have made their speeches in Israel and now a week of negotiations resumes on three fronts.

 

The State Department in Washington wants to speed up the progress of talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Condoleeza Rice has invited both parties to Washington for trilateral talks from Wednesday. Her aim is to produce a so-called shelf agreement which could be initialled by both sides even if it has to be put on the shelf until times are right for implementation. The idea is to spell out more clearly what could be on offer in terms of borders settlements and refugees. At the same time it would implicitly recognise the political weakness of both Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem to act on it at present.

 

At the same time as the pace quickens in Washington, so negotiations resume in Egypt for a deal which could see the release of Gilad Schalit after two years of captivity. This negotiation is complicated by the outbreak of fighting between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza last week. Egypt is trying to broker some agreement between them.

 

Any possible deal was complicated enough already because of the insistence by Hamas on release of hundreds of named Palestinian prisoners in Israel – some of them convicted of murdering Israelis. One such – Ayala – is serving fifteen life sentences for the killing of women and children at the Sbarro Café in Jerusalem seven years ago. She has shown no remorse and the victims’ families would find her release hard to stomach.

 

Another prize prisoner is Marwan Bhargouti who was convicted of murder and has a strong political following among the Palestinians. For Israel to release him in a deal with Hamas would gravely undermine the standing of Mahmoud Abbas as leader of Fatah. But to refuse to release either or both of these would condemn Gilad Schalit kidnapped from Israeli soil to indefinite confinement in Gaza. The judgement of Solomon is required.

 

On the third front another round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria is due to start this week in Turkey. Such an agreement would be audacious even going back to biblical times. The bomb explosions in Istanbul at the beginning of the week do not augur well for talks on this front. 

 

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” says the Psalmist in Psalm 85:10. There is a place for mercy and compromise that glory may dwell in the land. But the same Psalm warns against those who turn back to their folly. The right judgement of politicians is to know when compromise will lead to peace and when it will be taken in folly for weakness and lead to war.