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PM Salaam Fayad (Flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff July 27, 2007 |
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| Fayad prepares to kiss PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas after being sworn in as Prime Minister (Flash90) |
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Provisional Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad outlined the PA's platform for a two-state solution, replacing previous calls for armed resistance with a less explicit call for "national opposition to the occupation." The proposal includes a proposal for the state of Palestinine within the 1949 armistice borders, with Jerusalem as a joint capital, and adherence to past agreements.
As for the issue of Palestinian refugees, Fayad called for a solution based on UN resolutions, which could be interpreted as a continuing demand for the "right of return" to pre-1948 Israel and continuing Palestinian claims on Jaffa and Haifa.
The proposal is still pending approval from the PA parliament.
However, many question Abbas' actual political sway among the Palestinians, of whom the majority voted in the last elections for Hamas, the rival group that more openly supports terrorism against Israel and calls for its destruction more openly than the "moderate" Fatah, which now rules only parts of the "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria).
Abbas vowed to change the electoral system in an attempt to prevent Hamas from gaining a majority in upcoming elections. The PA is expected to call for elections in the near future, although a date has not been determined.
"I will use Article 43 of the Basic Law, which gives me the power to make those changes, to change the electoral law to a single national list instead of having two lists, one national and one by constituencies," Abbas said, according to Ynet.
Cabinet Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Haim Ramon expressed optimism that this proposal could lead to what he views as positive steps in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
"In my eyes, the occupation of the territories threatens our very existence, our legitimacy and our international standing," Cabinet Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Haim Ramon said in a radio interview.
According to government sources, the cabinet is looking at the proposal as the beginning of future negotiations, not as a plan for immediate peace.
Ramon said that a future Israeli withdrawal from 90 percent of the West Bank, an idea taken from Olmert's proposal to Abbas, would have to be gradual. Without stating a timeline, he said that a unilateral pullout was no longer a possibility, "certainly not in one step."
There is much opposition among conservatives, however, who are demanding that the PA administration do more to combat terror before Israel agrees to make territorial concessions.
Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA observed that the Ramon Gambit has a precedent: "For years the so-called "Beilin-Mazen" agreement was cited by withdrawal proponents as proof that a deal could be reached. This despite the fact that Beilin-Mazen 'solved' thorny issues such as Jerusalem and refugees by providing for committees to solve the issues."
"Ramon proposes to carry out a major withdrawal apparently creating a sovereign Palestinian state without even ever completing a final agreement with the Palestinians. After the withdrawal the Palestinians can revert to 'armed struggle' if they don't get what they want at the negotiating table."
"Ramon apparently realizes this fatal flaw and tries to paper it over by suggesting that foreign forces will somehow depend the Jewish State from Palestinian attacks. This even if the Palestinians make a case in world forums that "Israeli intransigence" at the negotiating table leaves them no choice."
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