More blows are dealt the peace negotiations, reports Doaa El-Bey Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared during this week's visit to Cairo a US-proposed 90-day freeze on Israeli settlement construction would not get him back to the negotiating table unless it includes East Jerusalem, a condition Israel staunchly opposes. Abbas said in a press conference after his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak that any construction freeze must include East Jerusalem "first and foremost", along with the West Bank. He emphasised that if the moratorium does not apply to all Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, he would not accept it. His one-day visit to Egypt aimed to discuss with the Egyptian president the latest development in the peace efforts and the Israeli intransigence in the settlement issue. However, settlement construction did not seem to be the only blow that hit the peace negotiations this week. Israel passed a law on Monday that requires the government to hold a national referendum if it wants to sign a peace agreement that cedes territory in East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights or any other territory within Israel. The law was passed in the Knesset with a majority of 65 members and the opposition of 33 and the support of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. It is not expected to affect the future of the West Bank and Gaza. The law was strongly condemned by the Palestinian Authority and Syrian media. Saeb Ereikat, chief Palestinian negotiator, said that "ending the occupation in our land could not be dependent on any sort of referendum." The latest development meant the Israelis are increasing the ceiling of their demands in the hope that they achieve the most through negotiations as Adel Suleiman, executive manager of the International Centre for Strategic and Future Studies told Al-Ahram Weekly. The road to peace is long and complicated, "but we still need to press on the US to put pressure on Israel to reach a satisfactory formula to restart the peace negotiations," Suleiman added. The issue of Israeli settlements blocked the latest round of direct negotiations three weeks after it was launched in September after the 10-month moratorium on West Bank settlement construction ended. Israel has refused to halt construction in East Jerusalem as part of that settlement freeze. Tel Aviv sees East Jerusalem, which it captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 war, as part of its capital, a status not recognised abroad. Palestinians want the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Since the end of direct negotiations, the US has been pushing Israel to impose a new, 90-day moratorium to draw the Palestinians back to talks. The US has offered Israel an incentives package including a fleet of next-generation Stealth warplanes and promises to veto anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations in order to entice Israel to accept the deal. Netanyahu said he would discuss the deal with his government. "He is again playing a political game to press for more gains. It is another political manoeuvre," Suleiman said. Abbas also wants a clear outline from Israel on borders for a future Palestinian state during the 90 days. But Netanyahu told deputies of his right-wing Likud Party on Sunday he would not prioritise talks about borders. The Arab League offered the US a one- month period to press on Israel to re- impose another freeze on settlement construction. The Arab League was to have considered other options at the end of that period which was later extended till the end of the month. These options could include taking a strong and unified Arab stand, or referring the Palestinian case to the international community or to the UN to get recognition of a Palestinian state. "However, all the options are difficult at present because of the failure of the Palestinians to reach reconciliation. At present, they failed to present themselves as a united power or as having one national project. This is the main obstacle facing the Palestinians to get international support," Suleiman said. In another move that could further increase tension with the Palestinians, the Israeli government on Sunday approved a $23 million, five-year project to renovate and develop the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, located in East Jerusalem.
