Tel Aviv - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began
his first day in office Wednesday with the eyes of the world fixed on
him.
Palestinian, Arab, American and European leaders were watching and
waiting, closely and anxiously, to see the Netanyahu government's
first actions with regard to peace negotiations, settlements, the
Gaza Strip and, perhaps in the somewhat longer run, also Iran.
The European Union's top diplomat, Javier Solana, warned from
Brussels in mid-March the bloc would do 'business as usual' with the
new Israeli government only if it continued working for a two-state
solution to the Middle East conflict.
US President Barack Obama, along with Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton, has used every relevant opportunity since taking
office in January to stress the two-state solution, telling a news
conference in Washington last week this was 'critical' for his
administration.
Netanyahu tried to ease the concerns over the peace process when
he presented his government late Tuesday, seven weeks after the bloc
of right-wing parties headed by his Likud party won a parliamentary
majority in Israeli elections.
'We will conduct continuous peace negotiations with the
Palestinian Authority with the aim of reaching a final agreement,' he
told the Knesset, Israel's parliament, shortly before it voted
confidence in his government just before midnight.
'We don't want to rule over another people. We don't want to rule
over the Palestinians.
'I say to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority: If you really
want peace, peace can be achieved.'
But, bearing in mind his hardline coalition partners and the
right-wing majority in the Knesset, Netanyahu stopped short of
meeting calls by the Palestinians and world leaders to openly express
support for a Palestinian state.
His government would not take any 'short-cuts' toward a peace
deal, and focus greatly on economic and security cooperation with the
Palestinians, although it would at the same time continue the
political negotiations, he said. He called this a triple-track
approach.
'Under the final (peace) agreement, the Palestinians will have all
the powers needed to govern themselves, except for those which
threaten the existence and security of the state of Israel,'
Netanyahu said.
Clarifying his position, an advisor, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Netanyahu supports the establishment of a state, some
of whose sovereignties would be curtailed. For example, it would not
be allowed to sign treaties with Israel's declared enemies that could
pose a threat.
Critics, however, have termed this 'autonomy plus, state minus.'
Netanyahu has also vowed he will not negotiate Jerusalem, nor give
up the strategic Jordan Valley - a large chunk of the West Bank along
the border with Jordan through which the river Jordan snakes. The
Palestinians want East Jerusalem as their capital.
Israeli President Shimon Peres nevertheless said in talks with
Czech officials in Prague this week he believed the Netanyahu
government would respect the two-state solution, even if he is unable
to declare so directly.
Netanyahu, 59, has had to walk a tightrope to humour both his
coalition partners to his right - such as the ultra-nationalist
Israel Beiteinu, the pro-settler, far-right Jewish Home and the
ultra-Orthodox Shas - and the Labour Party to his left.
Labour Party leader Ehud Barak demanded a clause in the coalition
agreement that calls for advancing regional peace, but has remained
rather vague, even if it unequivocally states the cabinet's
commitment to interim peace agreements signed by previous government.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, of Israel Beitenu, who has
said he would be willing to vacate his settlement of Nokdim in return
for real peace, but who also has many supporters in settlements.
Many of Lieberman's supporters are secular immigrants from the
former Soviet Union living in settlements, not so much for strong
ideological reasons, but because of the cheap housing compared to
crowded, congested and expensive Jerusalem.
Then there is the Jewish Home, whose voters are vehement,
ideological supporters of the settlement movement and of a 'Greater
Israel' that includes also the West Bank and Gaza.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas, strongly objects to concessions on
Jerusalem, sacred to religious Jews.
Netanyahu's coalition agreement with Lieberman is bad news for the
radical Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza. It declares
the government will 'not negotiate with terrorists' and promises
tough action against them. Clause 11 states: 'A strategic goal of the
state of Israel will be to topple the Hamas government in Gaza.'
Commentators have warned that it is only a matter of time before
the 'second Gaza war,' the first being Israel's December 27 - January
18 Gaza offensive aimed at curbing rocket attacks from the strip.
As for Iran, the Netanyahu government guidelines declare it will
not tolerate Tehran's nuclear armament, leaving the world to wonder
whether that will mean an Israeli strike.
But the world has also noted that former premier Ariel Sharon was
received as a hawk and warmonger, only to surprise everyone by
unilaterally pulling Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005.
Now, beyond Netanyahu's declarations - and those in his government
guidelines and coalition agreements, the world says it wants acts,
not words, and will judge his government accordingly.
USA
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