Wednesday, September 29, 2010

"I said 'not enough'!"

"...President Barack Obama has written a letter to Netanyahu offering "a string of assurances to Israel in return for a two-month moratorium extension," a prominent Washington Middle East expert has revealed.
"U.S. officials indicate that the document makes commitments on issues ranging from current peace and security matters to future weapons deliveries in the event that peace-related security arrangements are reached," the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's David Makovsky writes in a paper published on the think tank's website Wednesday evening that was shared in advance with POLITICO. ..... It could be presumed that Makovsky's revealing of the Obama written proposal to Netanyahu might have been authorized by the White House in order to encourage Netanyahu to accept the U.S. offer for a compromise that could allow recently relaunched Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to proceed. It also suggests that Ehud Barak, who Makovsky describes as closely consulting with the administration on the draft letter, thinks Netanyahu should accept the Obama proposal....
"According to senior U.S. officials, the administration's efforts culminated in a draft letter negotiated with Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak and chief Israeli peace negotiator Yitzhak Molcho, and ultimately sent from President Obama's desk to Netanyahu," Makovsky writes. 
The letter "guarantees that Washington will not ask for a moratorium extension beyond sixty days," Makovsky writes. "Rather, the future of settlements is to be settled at the table as part of territorial negotiations.
"Second, the letter promises that the United States will veto any UN Security Council initiative -- Arab or otherwise -- relating to Arab-Israeli peace during the agreed one-year negotiating period," he continues. "Third, Washington pledged to accept the legitimacy of existing Israeli security needs and not seek to redefine them." ..."

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