Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 17/11 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 12.- 25. September 2011 1. Palästina beantragt UN­Anerkennung Am 23. September überreichte Präsident Mahmud Abbas UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki-Moon das Ge­such um die Anerkennung des Staates Palästina durch die Vereinten Nationen. Das Gesuch wird nun dem Sicherheitsrat vorgelegt werden. Während noch nicht klar ist, ob die Mindestzahl von 9 Sicher­heitsratsmitgliedern dem Antrag zustimmen wird, haben die USA bereits ein Veto angekündigt. Bei einer Ablehnung – die Monate auf sich warten las­sen könnte – könnten die Palästinenser die UN­Generalversammlung um Anerkennung als Nicht­mitgliedsstaat mit Beobachterstatus ersuchen. In seiner Rede vor der UN verurteilte Abbas die Besatzung durch Israel und insbesondere die Sied­lungsaktivitäten im Westjordanland. Der israelische Premierminister Benjamin Netanyahu, der eine Stunde später das Podium betrat, betonte hingegen das Schicksal der Juden als bedrohtes Volk und nannte die UN ein"Theater des Absurden". In einem Vermittlungsversuch schlug das Nahost­quartett aus den USA, der EU, Russland und UN indes eine Wiederaufnahme der Friedensverhand­lungen binnen eines Monats vor, mit dem Ziel, 2012 ein Abkommen zu unterzeichnen. Israeli and Palestinian self-entrapment "The failure to reengage in negotiations[…] will usher in a period of instability with unpredictable consequences for all parties[…]. Israel would face an unprecedented wave of contin­ued delegitimization efforts.[…] Finally, the test for the Palestinian Authority will be […] to meet the elevated expectations that have come with the international push to recognize Pales­tine[…]. All the while, the PA is threatened by its rival, Hamas.[…] As a result, Hamas may return to violence against Israel, which could also have horrif­ic consequences for the Palestinian people. […] If[…] Netanyahu truly sought a two-state solu­tion and to prevent the Palestinians from going to the UN, he could have agreed to negotiate about borders.[…]. The Palestinians, on the other hand, could have intimated to the Americans that they were willing to stop promoting old narratives, par­ticularly about the return of Palestinian refugees, and agreed to a significant swap, thereby encourag­ing the Israelis to take them seriously." Alon Ben-Meir, JPO 23.09.11 An assault on Zionism "The international community is on the verge of rejecting our right to our land. […] By recognizing the Palestinian claim to[Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem], the member­ship of the world body is necessarily rejecting the Jewish one.[…] But it is not too late to stand tall and affirm our red lines, rather than the Green Line, and I pray that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will do just that. […] So let us draw a line in the sand and send the UN a clear and unequivocal message: there will be no more retreats or withdrawals. The Jewish people have returned to the hills of Judea and the outskirts of Jerusalem. We are here to stay. Get used to it." Michael Freund, JPO 22.09.11 Take statehood off agenda, unilateral or not "As the Palestinian UN'Statehood stunt' goes on […] Israel is pleading with PA leaders via numerous channels to abandon their bid and return to negotia­tions immediately.[…] The problem is that[…] even if a PA State would come into being, the millions of Palestinians across the Middle East still have the so­called'right of return'. To put it simply,‘first we’ll get our state, and then we are going to go after yours.’ Israel’s mistake is that it is keeps insisting on a State via negotiations instead of insisting that continued Palestinian intransigence will result in severe con­1