As some Israelis come out in favour of UN Palestine resolution, the Netanyahu govt threatens retaliation
Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) -The Israeli government is downplaying the UN vote on Palestine, expected tonight at 6 pm (EDT). However, many Israelis believe the process leading to peace between the two peoples has finally begun. More than 60 Israeli peace groups have organised a rally in Tel Aviv to coincide with the vote to celebrate the event.
The General Assembly of the United Nations is waiting to hear Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas speak at 3 pm (EDT). He is expected to ask the international community to raise Palestinian status from that of observer to non-state member within the pre-1967 (Israeli occupation) boundaries. His request is expected to sail through easily with the Palestinian Authority (PA) tallying 150 votes out of 193.
According to Abbas, official recognition would facilitate bilateral relations with Israel. Talks are expected to resume shortly after a two-year stalemate caused by Israel's unilateral settlement action in the Occupied Territories in violation of the Oslo Accords and international law.
The government of Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman appear isolated. In the past few weeks, they have tried a diplomatic counter-offensive to stop the Palestinian move, which, in their opinion, would hinder the peace process.
Some Israeli officials are now saying that the resolution "lacks all significance; only the Security Council can establish a real country."
Last year, the Palestinian president had tried to have Palestine recognised by the Security Council but was thwarted by a US veto.
Israeli government officials are now saying that the PA move at the United Nations is only an attempt to distract Palestinian public opinion from its own failures and high levels of corruption.
Moreover, they believe the Palestinian request violates the Oslo Accords, that the two-state solution can only be achieved through negotiations. "This is a completely unilateral move and it crosses a red line," one Israeli official said.
Another Israeli source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told AsiaNews that Israel could retaliate. "We could refuse to recognise the Oslo Accords. Tomorrow we could stop transferring tax revenues to the PA (which Israel currently collects). We could ban thousands of Palestinian workers from Israel. This way, with so many people out of work and without money to pay public servants and police, what would Abu Mazen do? Going to the UN is a step to destroy the Palestinian dream." Abu Mazen is Mahmud Abbas's teknonym.
Not everyone is so pessimistic in Israel. For Uri Avneri, a former Israeli lawmaker, founder and activist of Gush Shalom (The Bloc of Peace), today's vote is also an opportunity for Israelis to celebrate.
Tonight, he will speak at rally organised by Israeli and Israel-Arab peace groups in front of Tel Aviv's Independence Hall on Rothschild Blvd, where Israel's Declaration of Independence was first announced 65 years ago.
"Ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state is not only in the interest of the Palestinians," Avneri said. "It is in Israel's most vital interest. The Occupation is a heavy weight around Israel's neck, dragging us into the depths of brutality, extremism and racism and utterly corrupting our society. The frightening list of extreme right parliamentary candidates, with which registered members of the ruling Likud Party came up this week, is but one among many and fast multiplying examples."
"Liberating the Palestinians from the yoke of occupation will liberate the State of Israel from being an occupying and oppressive state; a Darkness Unto the Nations of which Jews abroad - especially the younger ones - feel ashamed and from which they increasingly turn away. Liberating the Palestinians from occupation and facilitating the establishment of their independent state would open to the State of Israel the gateway to a life of peace with its neighbors and to integration in the region where it is located."
"No longer an isolated enclave surrounded by fences and walls, but a neighbor and economic and political partner of Palestine and Jordan, Egypt and Syria and Lebanon and the other Arab and Muslim countries. It is possible, and it is vital to our future. The vote of the UN member states is a small, but crucial step towards building this future."
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