Erekat: Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'

There's an extraordinary development occurring ahead of the Annapolis summit between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Olmert has demanded that the Palestinians not only recognise Israel's existence, or even Israel's "right to exist", but he now demands that the Palestinians recognise Israel's "right to exist as a Jewish state".

Life was much easier for Israelis seeking to avoid negotiation with the PLO when the PLO simply refused to recognise Israel at all, but then the PLO spoiled the party by recognising Israel and, ever since, Israelis who wish to avoid negotiation have had to set the bar forever higher.

But Olmert has set the bar so high that even Ha'aretz newspaper and the Israeli Arab Higher Monitoring Committee are refusing to play ball, although Olmert is insisting that his position is non-negotiable.

"I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state," Olmert said, thereby accepting the position of Livni and Barak. "This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state."

Olmert said he raised the importance of this issue during his talks with European and American officials, and their response had been positive.

When states recognise each other they acknowledge each others borders, they do not recognise the religion of the country in question. Olmert is seeking to make this part of the negotiations because, if one recognises Israel "as a Jewish state", then it is the state of Jews everywhere, and the whole subject of the Palestinians right to return can be simply swept off the table. After all, how can you have a "right to return" to a Jewish state if you are not Jewish?

Ha'aretz newspaper argue that Israel's own actions are what are endangering it rather than any recognition from the Palestinians:

It is easy to speak about a Jewish state, but difficult to find the political courage required to do what it takes: Settlements scattered in the heart of the Palestinian population make it impossible to separate between Israel and Palestine along a plausible and viable border. With each passing day and each passing year, every settlement expansion, every outpost and every road built to reach it disrupt the chance to separate the two nations.

Therefore suspending construction in the settlements is not a prize for the Palestinians ahead of one agreement or another, but a life-saving medicine for Israel. It is already difficult to delineate a border between the Etzion, Ariel and Ma'aleh Adumim settlement blocs as the building boundaries within them keep expanding, with a wink at Washington.

Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, but they should direct this demand at the Israelis.

There has always been something faintly ludicrous about Israel demanding that the Palestinians recognise Israel whilst Israel refuses to define her own borders, but the demand of recognition "as a Jewish state" totally ignores the fact that not all Israeli's are Jewish.

It is for this reason that the Israeli Arab Higher Monitoring Committee are drafting a document expressing its refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

The Hadash party that raised the issue are focusing on expressing its disapproval of the state's definition as Jewish in the context of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Other parties, such as Balad, believe the committee must express a principled disapproval of such a definition.

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestinians, has made it very clear that he totally rejects Olmert's premise:

Erekat said that "no state in the world connects its national identity to a religious identity."

Some of Israel's most prominent Palestinian residents have published an appeal to Abbas, asking him not to concede to Olmert:

The full-page newspaper ad, signed by 108 prominent Jerusalemites, including top Christian and Muslim leaders, did not make specific demands. However, the signatories asked Abbas not to negotiate a deal that would "violate our national rights."

Olmert is pulling a fast one here, making a demand that he must know is impossible for the Palestinians to agree to.

As Lawrence of Cyberia rightly puts it:

The PLO says that Palestinians, like everyone else, give diplomatic recognition to countries, not to demographic balances, religious leanings or political affiliations.

In recognizing Iran, for example, they give formal acceptance to Iran's sovereignty, its people and its borders, but not to its religious orientation. If Iran wants to call itself "The Islamic Republic of...", that is purely an internal Iranian affair. It's "Iran" that international diplomacy recognizes, not the Islamic-ness or Republic-ness of its political system. Similarly, if Israel wishes to call itself "The Jewish State of...", that is an internal Israeli affair, which does not need and cannot demand recognition from the PLO or anyone else in the world community.

Olmert is asking for something that can never be given, and it's hard to believe that he doesn't know that this can never be given. How can the Palestinians be expected to make a declaration that Palestinian-Israelis are somehow second class citizens?

And how can the European and American officials, that Olmert is said to have raised this with, have given such a demand a "positive" reaction?

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Tags: Olmert, Israel's "right to exist as a Jewish state", Israel, Palestine, Annapolis summit, PA, Israeli Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, Livni, Barak, Saeb Erekat