PA Policy Paper Exposes Its Deception

JERUSALEM, Israel -- A 65-page policy paper by Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, dated March 9, shows PA officials never intended to reach a negotiated settlement with Israel.

Israeli National Security Advisor Joseph Cohen attached a copy of Erekat’s paper with a letter to Western leaders, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

Cohen wrote to European Union, Russian, Chinese and U.S ambassadors, including Ambassador Dan Shapiro and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, exposing the P.A. as a disingenuous partner in the peace talks.

“In effect, this is a policy paper presented in early March in preparation for a Palestinian rejection of American proposals and includes…recommendations to implement a strategy of unilateral Palestinian actions outside of the agreed negotiations framework,” Haaretz quoted Cohen’s letter.

In the document, Erekat outlines the Palestinian strategy leading up to the April 29 deadline set by Secretary of State John Kerry and afterward. The two main decisions that convinced Israel to discontinue talks were the P.A.’s applications to 15 international organizations and its plans to form a unity government with Hamas.

“In short, the document serves as damning evidence of bad faith on the part of the Palestinian side. It suggests that plans to reject American proposals and pursue unilateral actions were in place well in advance despite the unwavering commitment shown by Secretary Kerry…and the seriousness that Israel has demonstrated throughout the negotiation process.”

Cohen urged world leaders to place the blame for failed talks on the Palestinians and not on Israel.

“I would respectfully request that this letter and the attached document be passed onto the relevant officials and that the necessary conclusions be drawn both with respect to Palestinian responsibility for the current impasse and to the measures needed to respond appropriately to the situation that has been created, which gravely endangers prospects for advancing the peace process,” Cohen concluded.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told diplomats that Abbas is using what he called Leon Trotsky’s “no war, no peace” strategy in dealing with Israel, which he learned firsthand in Moscow in the 1970s, the Jerusalem Post reported.

“There is absolutely no desire on the part of the Palestinians to reach an agreement with Israel,” Lieberman told members of the diplomatic corps at an Independence Day celebration at President Shimon Peres’ Jerusalem residence, calling it a “long standing and familiar pattern of behavior by Abbas and the Palestinians.”

“Whenever there is progress and a step forward in negotiations, the Palestinians take two steps back,” he said.

Lieberman said Monday’s meeting in Qatar between Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal is a clear indication of the terror group’s plan to take over Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank) as it did the Gaza Strip in the spring of 2007.

While Israel wants an agreement with the Palestinians, Lieberman said “we will not be fools.”

Peres, whose term as president expires in June, claims Israel isn’t opposed to a P.A. unity government as long as it meets the Quartet’s (U.N., U.S., U.K., Russia and China) three basic requirements: to renounce terrorism, accept Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish nation-state and accepts past agreements signed between the two sides.