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08-02-2011, 10:47 PM
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"...Netanyahu more likely is thinking about the protests called by the Palestinian Authority for September 20, the eve of a U.N. General Assembly vote which would by an overwhelming majority recognize Palestinian statehood (although with no practical effect if the move isn't endorsed by the Security Council, where the U.S. has vowed to veto it). Concerned to avoid the U.N. community codifying the international consensus on the terms of a two-state solution -- which Israel's government doesn't accept -- the Obama Administration has launched a frantic effort to head off the Palestinian U.N. bid by restarting negotiations which have failed because the gulf between the sides is too large. And Netanyahu seems to be moving to do his bit by signaling what he hopes will be viewed as a new flexibility....
........But the Israeli Prime Minister's own aides quickly rushed to assure Israeli media that Netanyahu maintains his rejection of withdrawal to the 1967 lines, and instead plans to negotiate on the basis of a "border package" that includes territorial swaps. .......
If not, and the U.N. vote goes ahead, Netanyahu's latest position will simply have been an attempt to shift the blame for intransigence back onto the Palestinians. Netanyahu and Abbas, it should be noted, have never really negotiated with one another; instead, both "negotiate", or jockey for position, with the U.S. and the wider international community. And Netanyahu's new willingness to talk about borders, but only on his terms and if the Palestinians withdraw their U.N. bid, is simply his latest move in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian battle for international public opinion.
Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/201...#ixzz1Tvx7u3fZ
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