Abbas draws red line over Israeli settlement building

Senior Palestinian officials warn that if Israel begins construction in the area designated “E-1” by the Oslo peace process, a sensitive piece of land Israel acquired in 1967 that is adjacent to Eastern Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and seek indictments of Israeli military officials on war crimes charges.
The ability to join the ICC comes after “Palestine” became a non-member observer state in the United Nations last November. It has been learned that Abbas promised US Secretary of State John Kerry the PA would not to attempt to join any United Nations organizations before the end of May as a sign of good will as Kerry seeks to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that have sat idle for more than four years.
Abbas is currently engaged in consultations to form a new government after Prime Minister Salam Fayad resigned.
“According to the law, Abbas now has five weeks to form the new government — enough time for Kerry to decide whether there is ground to re-launch the stagnant Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and enough time for Hamas to decide whether they want elections,” a senior Fatah official said.
“When he began his efforts, Kerry asked President Abbas for a period of eight weeks to explore the possibilities of resuming negotiations. According to our calculations, this period will end on May 23, whereas the law gives him until June 2 to form a government,” the official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak with media, added. As a UN non-member observer state, “Palestine” now has the right to seek membership in international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, where it could pursue war crimes charges against Israel.
“President Abbas has the power to go to the United Nations again — tomorrow. He has the power to ask to be a part of an agency or to be recognized now,” Kerry told the House Foreign Relations Committee. “He is restraining from doing that. That is his sign of good faith at this moment. He would like to see if we could get this process moving.”
Yet, it could all change if Israel begins construction in the controversial E-1 area adjacent to the Israeli community of Ma’alei Adumim. Currently, there is an Israel police station on the site, and it is home to hundreds of Bedouin. Palestinians say that Israeli building there would make an independent Palestinian state virtually impossible by cutting-off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Palestinians say East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed following the 1967 war, must be the future capital of a Palestinian state.
In a recent report known as “Study 13,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat suggested that, “In the case that the Israeli government started the implementation of the construction in the “settlements” of E1, Givat Hamatos, and Ramot Shlomo, then the Palestinian state should put the whole matter before the International Criminal Court.”
The study said building in E-1 would be a “moment of truth.”
Secretary of State Kerry has suggested that negotiations should first revolve around the issues of borders and security, according to Palestinian sources.
“He thinks that if the issue of borders is solved, then the Israelis will know which parts of land will be under their control, in the context of land swaps, and thus they will know where they can build,” a Palestinian official said. “And the Palestinians will know which parts of land will belong to their state, thus solving the issue of ‘settlements.’”
According to a senior Palestinian official, Abbas has asked Kerry to demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provide a map depicting the borders he would offer for a Palestinian state. In addition, Abbas insists that Netanyahu must accept a two-state solution explicitly based on the pre-1967 borders — both demands that the Israeli leader is unlikely to agree to.
In order to develop trust between the two sides, Kerry has suggesting mutual confidence-building measures.
Privately, Palestinians are not optimistic about Kerry’s effort, but don’t want to be accused of sabotaging it. A senior Palestinian official said that, “It is difficult to connect some Palestinian villages in Area C with water and electricity, so it is difficult to believe that huge projects can be built in that area.”
“What is needed is decisive action from the United States to get the Israelis to stop building settlements and go immediately to negotiations to discuss withdrawal to the borders of 1967. Otherwise, it will be crisis management and not solving the crisis,” he added.