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West Bank Withdrawal? Maybe... Maybe Not

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CNN is reporting that the Netenyahu government is sending out feelers to other parties in the Knesset in an attempt to circumvent opposition by right wing parties to a US backed proposal to withdraw from 13 percent of the West Bank. The Prime Minister is apparently becoming more worried about keeping his coalition government in power than in the past few months. His government has been the target of several no-confidence votes that came up short, but tension has definitely increased over the lack of any movement in the peace process one way or the other.

In a related note, it was announced that Palestinian and Israeli negotiators met in Switzerland to discuss a possible solution by applying the Geneva Convention to the settlement issue in the West Bank.

Israel had previously stated that the Geneva Convention did not apply to the West Bank and Israeli settlements, but this possibly represents a fundamental shift in the Israeli policy towards the West Bank although Israel continues to require that the Palestinian Authority lives up to its agreements under the Oslo Accords before any action is taken to give land.

Movement on the settlement issue is another sign that the most important work on the Middle East peace process comes not from publicized meetings and high profile encounters among the participants, but rather the secretive and steady diplomacy conducted through the backchannels. Low level diplomats are able to work closely together over a long period of time to develop a strategy to improve relations or solve difficult issues leaving only minor details to be worked out before they are publically known.

Of course, facts on the ground continue to make life difficult for both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. Right wing settlers moved into 4 homes in a predominantly Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem sparking a confrontation between the settlers, residents and protesters. The settlers contend they legally purchased the homes from their occupants but the residents and protesters thought the move was not a wise one.

To help relieve pressure on the Netenyahu government, the possibility of a referrendum has been floated giving the Israeli public the opportunity to vote on further troop withdrawals from the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority considers this a stalling tactic and it would definitely appear that Netenyahu is searching for some way to keep his faltering government intact.

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