The European Union has distributed a confidential document to its 28 member states that contains the draft of a proposal for sanctions to be imposed on Israel if it takes action in the West Bank that could make the two-state solution impossible, European diplomatic sources and senior Israeli officials said.Of course, this document does not mention any "sticks" for Palestinian behavior that is against peace. On the contrary, this anti-Israel document is being drafted at the exact same time that EU nations are moving closer to recognizing a Palestinian Arab state.
The representatives, who received the document from the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS), were asked to keep its distribution limited and not to show it to Israel yet. Israeli diplomats in a number of European capitals reported the existence of the document to the Foreign Ministry, adding a few details about its content. However, they were unable to obtain the full document.
Three European diplomats and two senior Israeli officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the document deals mainly with “sticks and carrots” for Israel with regard to maintaining the two-state solution, although they said the document contained mainly sticks.
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European diplomats familiar with the document say it discusses Israeli actions that would constitute a red line for the EU. For example, it mentions advancement of construction in the E1 area between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem; construction of the Givat Hamatos neighborhood and additional construction in Har Homa south of Jerusalem, both of which are over the Green Line in Jerusalem. The EU believes that such construction puts at risk territorial contiguity of the Palestinian state and might make it impossible for Jerusalem to be the capital of both states.
Sanctions mentioned by the document include marking products manufactured in the settlements in EU supermarkets; limiting cooperation with Israel in various areas; and even restrictions on the free-trade agreement with Israel.
What has the PLO done, exactly, to ensure a successful two-state solution and a peaceful Middle East?
The answer can be discerned from the juxtaposition of two things that happened last Friday. One was this interesting State Department dialogue between reporter Matt Lee and spokesperson Jen Psaki:
QUESTION: So on the Palestinian side, one of the issues that we’ve seen has been this spate of sort of lone attacks either by car rammings or stabbings or the instance of such ilk. Could you tell us what it is you are hoping that the Palestinians will be able to do to avoid those kind of actions taking place in the future?In other words, only Israel is expected to do anything concrete.
MS. PSAKI: Well, obviously, as I just mentioned, President Abbas made it clear that he is willing to do everything possible to restore calm. Broadly in the discussion they talked about a range of areas, including access to holy sites, security for holy sites, coordination among security forces and authorities, regional security architecture, incitement, and settlements. Those are a number of the pool of areas that obviously need to be addressed.
And I think the fact that there was a commitment to take affirmative steps we obviously feel is positive. Now, of course, the proof is not in the words. The proof is in the actions. So we’ll see what happens over the next couple of days. But we’re just not going to get into more specific details.
QUESTION: Jen, you mentioned that the proof is in the actions, clearly, but you’ve only cited one action and that was on the part of the Israelis to open up – to drop the age restriction. Have you seen any affirmative action from the Palestinians to do what President Abbas said that he was going to be doing?
MS. PSAKI: Well, Matt, obviously, these discussions happened last night, and we certainly anticipate that there will be in the coming days.
QUESTION: Right. But there was – I mean, there was pretty quick and demonstrable action taken by the Israelis. I’m just wondering if you saw any quick and demonstrable action taken --
MS. PSAKI: There’s public and private actions, but I don’t have anything more specific.
QUESTION: All right.
MS. PSAKI: We’ll see what happens in the next couple of days.
QUESTION: Is it – I’m not sure I understand why you think that it is wise to announce that the two sides have – or that three sides have agreed to steps to calm things down and then to keep them secret. ... I just – it doesn’t make any sense to me that you wouldn’t want them – that you would want these alleged steps that were agreed to to become public. That way, people know what to expect.
MS. PSAKI: Well, we sent a strong message that there were – there was an agreement to take affirmative steps in order to hopefully generate some calm in the region. There was an evaluation and discussion made by all the parties involved that this was the best way to proceed.
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QUESTION: Just a follow-up very quickly. What would be demonstrable and quick action by the Palestinians that you would like to see?
MS. PSAKI: I’m not going to spell it out further, Said, other than to convey that President Abbas made clear that he’ll do everything possible to restore calm. He restated his firm commitment to nonviolence. They talked about a range of issues that both sides can work on, including regional security structure, coordination among security forces, incitement, settlements – a lot of the issues that have been causing tensions in the region.
Indeed, the official PA TV encouraged violence immediately after this meeting where they supposedly would restore calm.
Here is the crux of the issue: The international community does not expect anything peaceful from the PLO. Only Israel is expected to work hard towards peace, while the Palestinian Arabs are not expected to do anything. Even something as simple as publicly calling for calm is considered too much to expect from them. If pressed, Western pundits would say that Abbas has his hands tied because of the "Palestinian street."
Of course, this is an admission that the Palestinian Arabs themselves are not interested in real peace. But the problem goes beyond that.
In truth, Abbas controls the Palestinian street. The PLO and Fatah (not to mention groups in Gaza) are the ones who make public calls for "days of rage." They are the ones who publicly honor terrorists, calling them heroes. They are the ones who are explicitly against any kind of "normalization" with Israelis. They are the ones lobbying incessantly for sanctions and resolutions aimed only at Israel. They are the ones who have refused to negotiate for years, trusting instead that the West will do the pressuring for them.
And they are right.
The West has internalized the fact that the PLO cannot be expected to do a damn concrete thing to help bring peace. But since peace is so important, and no one wants to admit that Israel's "peace partner" supports violence and terror, the onus must be placed on the reasonable Israelis - and only the Israelis - to do more, and more, and more.
Abbas gets all the carrots, and Israel gets all the sticks, because deep down everyone knows that making Palestinian Arabs angry could end up resulting in bombs in European capitals down the line.
So violence and threats are rewarded and the one people in the Middle East who actually truly want real peace are the ones who are demonized.