Saeb Erekat, Palestinian chief negotiator, said, "My heart aches because I know we were so close. We need six more weeks to conclude the drafting of the agreement."
Yes, Saeb Erekat told Arafat to take the deal. But Arafat couldn't and wouldn't, so he broke it on a real deal-breaker for the Israelis "right of return" of 5 million Pal refugees to Israel. Shlomo ben-Ami, Barak's FM, gave his opinion a few months later that Arafat defined himself by the conflict and could not end it no matter what.
However, this begs my question. YOU said that serious Israeli concessions would help would opinion. I said that damn serious concessions had been given at Camp David and Taba. I then asked, Did they help?
You didn't answer me. Please answer the question.
Such serious concessions come with a high price even when they don't lead to an agreement, you know. In this case, they led to about 4000 dead in the Second Intifada. Also, whatever Israel offers at any time is always taken by the other side as a given when negotiations start up again. If Abu Mazen starts any new negotations he will lay down the Clinton proposals at Taba as his starting point and then demand even more.
So it's very expensive to offer serious concessions, all the more so if you're doing it for PR. My question stands: Did it help? |
