In a move signalling its frustration with the pace and direction of peace talks with Israel, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to apply for the membership of 15 UN bodies and treaties, including the body that oversees implementation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The move met with resentment by Israeli officials, while US diplomats continued to propose up with new ideas to save the faltering peace talks, which were slated to conclude by the end of April. The Palestinian move is widely seen as a reaction to Israel's refusal to release a fourth batch of prisoners who were supposed to be freed 29 March. Israeli officials said that they were not going to release further prisoners unless the PA promised to extend the peace talks. Palestinian-Israeli talks resumed in late July after a three-year hiatus in the hope of reaching a “framework agreement” addressing the thorniest issues of the conflict: The delineation of borders, security arrangements, the status of Jerusalem, and the rights of refugees. The talks ground to a halt over Israel's request that the Palestinians recognise its “Jewishness”. Israel had agreed to release long-serving Palestinian prisoners, held before the signing of Oslo Accords in 1993. Those prisoners, numbering 104, were supposed to be released in four batches. Three batches have been freed, but Israel reneged on its promise to release the fourth batch, asking the Palestinians to agree to extend the duration of the talks first. So far, 78 prisoners have been released, with the fourth batch comprising only 14 men. PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed the documents applying or membership in the UN bodies in a televised ceremony. His action, described as “unilateral” by the Israelis, was calculated to show discontent with the direction and pace of the peace talks. But Abbas stopped short of dismissing the peace talks altogether. Instead, he claimed that applying for membership of UN bodies was a Palestinian right and had nothing to do with the peace process. Abbas even stated that the Palestinian leadership is determined to reach a settlement through negotiations and peaceful resistance. “Anything else is rejected,” he said in what observers say was a reference to the methods of “armed struggle” advocated by rival Palestinian factions. The Palestinian president was also careful not to alienate the Americans. “This step is not meant to annoy anyone. We don't want to use this right against anyone. We don't want to clash with the US administration because it is helping us and it has made great efforts. But we didn't find another way,” Abbas said. “(Membership of UN bodies) is our right and we only agreed to postpone it for nine months. We didn't abrogate it,” the Palestinian leader said. According to legal expert, Palestinian membership in UN affiliated organisations can put pressure on the Israelis to comply with international humanitarian law, as spelled out in the Geneva Conventions, and help the Palestinians bring their suffering to the attention of the international community. Abdel-Karim Shbeir, an international law expert, said that joining The Hague Regulations and the Geneva Conventions would help to illustrate Israel's violations of human rights in the Palestinian territories. According to Shbeir, the said instruments guarantee the rights of civilians in times of war and under occupation, and will thus bring international law to bear on the treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Israel is holding more than 4,800 Palestinians in its prisons including 17 women and 162 children. Around 15 prisoners have been held for over 25 years. Since the UN General Assembly agreed in 2012 to grant Palestine the status of a non-member observer state, the Palestinians were free to apply for membership in UN affiliated bodies and conventions. Although Abbas didn't close the door for further talks with the Israelis, he is clearly seeking ways to strengthen his position in the talks. Recently, he formed a delegation of various Palestinian organisations to speak to Hamas about possible reconciliation. Hamas, the militant movement in control of Gaza since 2007, is opposed to talks with the Israelis. Its officials, far from excited over Abbas's recent move, called the application to join UN bodies “belated”. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that national reconciliation should be based, among other things, on credible power sharing. “The achievement of national reconciliation is something that calls for respect for political partnership, an end to the monopoly on decision making, and an end to all forms of cooperation with the enemy,” he said. For Abu Zuhri, reconciliation with Ramallah must lead to a “national strategy to confront Israeli intransigence.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the PA is willing to put on hold its bid to join UN bodies if Israel freed the last batch of prisoners. “We are fighting the Netanyahu strategy, which aims to create a Palestinian Authority that is devoid of authority, [maintain] an occupation that has no cost, and keep the Gaza Strip isolated from its Palestinian continuum,” Erekat added. “We do not seek confrontation with anyone and we haven't breached any agreement at all,” Erekat stated. The Israelis maintain that Ramallah has broken earlier “understandings” when it sought membership in UN affiliated organisations. Accordingly, the Netanyahu government threatened to take punitive measures against Ramallah. Speaking at the weekly session of his cabinet last Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel is not interested in continued negotiations “at any price”. He called the Palestinian UN application a “flagrant violation of the understandings that had been reached”. Striking a tone of defiance, Netanyahu said that the “Palestinians will achieve the goal of establishing their state through negotiations alone, not through empty statements and unilateral measures.” Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz hinted to the punitive measures Israel had in mind. “Without security and the money provided by Israel to the PA, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad will overthrow Abbas and control Ramallah,” he said. “Abbas spat in our face and the Palestinians must understand that there is a price to pay for breaking the rules of the game,” Steinitz added. Israel threatened to discontinue meetings with top Palestinian officials, freeze tax payments it collects on behalf of the PA, reinstate roadblocks, demolish Palestinian homes, and build more settlements as way of punishing Ramallah, according to Yedioth Ahronoth. In a last ditch attempt to save the peace process from collapse, US envoy Martin Indyk had long sessions of talks with both Erekat and Israel's Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. According to Palestinian and Hebrew media sources, US Secretary of State John Kerry is putting together a new political and security deal to bridge the gap between the two sides. The deal involves Israel releasing 400 prisoners “with no blood on their hands” on top of the fourth batch of long-time prisoners. This should help the Palestinians extend the talks for another year, US diplomats hope. As for Israel, the deal is sweetened by a US promise to release Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy held in US prison since 1986.
