CAIRO: Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat stated the PA will ask the Middle East Quartet — comprised of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — to pressure Israel to free more prisoners. Saeb Erekat and the PA government are reacting to the popular sentiment that the Shalit prisoner swap deal has strengthened Hamas at the expense of the PA, perhaps demonstrating to some that armed resistance is more profitable than Abbas' diplomacy. The sudden Israeli-Hamas cooperation on the prisoner swap came at a vulnerable time for PA, as Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is running a bid for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. Concerns were voiced that the prisoner swap might be a conscious attempt by Israel and Hamas to halt popular support for the bid. Via the mediation of the Quartet, Abbas will call on Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to honor a promise from former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert. Olmert is said to have promised Fatah the release of a number of additional prisoners in a “gesture of good will,” should Hamas agree on a prisoner swap deal with Israel. The PA will now raise this demand, as Hamas and Israel last week concluded its high-profile swap. “The release of prisoners affects “every Palestinian” and does not empower one political party over another,” Abbas told Time Magazine on Thursday. The Quartet has continually called on Israel and Palestine to engage in renewed peace talks, as they fear Abbas' statehood bid could stir unrest and halt the peace process. Reacting to the Quartets proposals for peace talks, Palestinians have argued that one cannot equalize Israel and Palestinians in their efforts for peace. “It is the Israeli occupation which is impeding peace and democracy,” Erekat said in response to Quartet special envoy Tony Blair, who had earlier agreed to statements claiming that the Arab Spring and the Palestinian UN bid could damage the peace process. Former leader of the moderately liberal Israeli party Kadima, Ehud Olmert, acted as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006-2009. His government enjoyed fair relations with Fatah but saw major conflicts with Hamas during their time in office. Tzipi Livni, leader of the oppositional Kadima party, has voiced concerns over the Shalit-deal. She has been calling on Israeli politicians to negotiate the second part of the swap with Fatah-governed Palestinian Authority as opposed to Hamas, so that Hamas is not bolstered at the expense of the Palestinian Authority. BM
