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October 24, 2003/Tishri 28 5764, Vol. 56, No. 5
'Geneva accord' renews Israel's partisan struggle
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
At last, after three years in the political wilderness, the Israeli left has something to cheer about. The so-called "Geneva accord," negotiated by a group of Israeli doves and Palestinian moderates, have revived dormant hopes of a peace agreement with the Palestinians and given Israel's flagging left a shot in the arm.
But right-wing and centrist critics insist that the group led by former Cabinet minister Yossi Beilin has done more harm than good. Opening the Knesset's winter session on Oct. 20, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected the agreement as an "illusion" that would encourage the Palestinians to go back on their commitments under the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan to fight terrorism.
Moreover, because they were so intent on clinching a deal to boost their political fortunes, critics say, the Israeli negotiators gave away far too much. They also accuse Beilin's group of subverting democratic processes by arrogating a role reserved for the elected government - especially considering that Israeli voters soundly rejected the left's platform in the country's last two elections.
What's worse, critics say, the Geneva negotiators have put this and any Israeli future government in an invidious position: In any future official negotiations, they argue, the unauthorized Geneva "concessions" will serve as a starting point for new Palestinian demands.
The doves counter that the agreement results from the political vacuum caused by the government's failure to initiate far-reaching peace moves. Moreover, they say, it shows that there indeed is someone to talk to on the Palestinian side, and something to talk about.
The Geneva agreements, say the doves, offer the leaders on both sides a way out of the cycle of violence and death.
The biggest stumbling block in previous negotiations was the refugee issue. The Palestinians refused to waive their demand for a right of return.
In the Geneva text, the Palestinians include U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194, U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 and the 2001 Saudi peace initiative - which, some analysts say, is tantamount to bringing in the right of return through the back door.
Though Israel will be entitled to limit its intake of refugees, the agreement says that it "will take into account the average number taken in by the third countries.'' That means Israel could find itself pressed to take in tens of thousands of refugees by an international committee that the agreement says should be formed to process applications.
Beilin stresses that the Geneva accord is not a peace agreement but a model for what a deal might look like. He assumes Palestinian good faith and says the agreement shows that peace is attainable.
An Oct. 15 poll in Yediot Achronot showed 39 percent supporting the accord and 59 percent opposed. Two days later, the Ma'ariv newspaper recorded 23 percent support and 57 percent opposition.
The argument between left and right highlights a fundamental difference of approach. Highly suspicious of Palestinian motives, the right insists on the slow, step-by-step process of the road map, arguing that it's absurd to attempt one quantum leap to a final agreement when the sides can't even stop the violence.
The left counters that the road map is going nowhere, and that its final destination is not even clear. What's needed, they say, is a clear sense of the final destination, which the Geneva accord could provide. They say: Why not try the Geneva approach and put the Palestinians to the test?
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent of the Jerusalem Report.
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