In YNet News, Moshe Elad explains why the outcome of the referendum on the Palestinian prisoners’ peace plan is high stakes for Israel:
Nothing good for Israel will come out of if Hamas becomes more flexible according to the prisoners’ document, that could be taken overseas as a true reversal for that organization, and could therefore push Israel into a corner and paint Israel as the party that opposes peace.
The moderate Arab countries and the West are hoping for a miracle, and for Hamas to accept the document, because from that moment forward, all pressure will be on Israel.
Unfortunately, coverage continues to dangerously misrepresent the proposal. Two news services in particular stand out:
* The Daily Telegraph says of the plan, “its explicit acceptance of Israel’s right to exist on pre-1967 borders is historic.”
* AFP reports that the plan drops Palestinian claims to “all historic Palestine.”
We wrote yesterday the plan doesn’t claim that lands beyond the Green Line will be the territorial limit of a Palestinian state, nor does the document unconditionally renounce terror. As the NY Times pointed out:
The plan contains a number of provisions that Israel adamantly opposes. It says Palestinian refugees dating from the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war must be allowed to return to their homes in what is now Israel. The plan also calls for Palestinian “resistance” in areas occupied by Israel, which effectively means the West Bank.
