Leaders Work for Two-State Solution; Security Challenges Remain
 

Speaking in Ramallah on Thursday (Jan. 10), U.S. President George Bush affirmed his commitment to achieving a two-state peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians while he remains in office. [1] Throughout a three-day visit to Israel , the first of his presidency, Bush has emphasized the themes of Israeli-Palestinian peace and the threat posed by Iran and its nuclear program. [2]
 
While speaking in Ramallah, Bush articulated a process under which progress would be made on parallel tracks, the first being both sides’ fulfillment of commitments enumerated in the Israeli-Palestinian “road map.� [3] The first phase of these commitments requires the Palestinian Authority (PA) to end the official incitement against Israel that is a hallmark of the state-controlled media and education system by calling for an immediate end to all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere. [4] Indeed, a culture of hate consistently perpetuated in Palestinian society has posed a major stumbling block to the road map’s implementation. (For information on official incitement in PA-controlled media and schools.)
 
Bush also called for redrawing borders to reflect current realities and for establishing new international mechanisms, including compensation, to resolve the refugee issue. [5]
 
These positions, also included in the Clinton parameters for Israeli-Palestinian peace, have been the basis for past negotiations. [6] Israeli leaders have long adhered to the principle of territorial compromise in exchange for peace and security. During the Camp David negotiations that took place during the Clinton presidency, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made concessions that inspired the U.S. president to praise Barak's courage and vision. [7] Ehud Olmert, currently Israel’s prime minister, has also consistently reiterated his support for a two-state solution and commitment to a process of reaching compromise on the core issues besetting the peace process, most recently in a joint press conference held with Bush in Jerusalem.
 
In focusing on monetary compensation for refugees, Bush’s stated position implicitly endorses the Israeli view that the return of the Palestinians to Israel is unacceptable as it would entail Israel no longer existing as a Jewish state. [8] It is important to note that the unresolved refugee issue includes Palestinian refugees from Israel as well as Jewish refugees expelled during the same period from their homes in Arab countries. Both groups number approximately 900,000 individuals, though Palestinians also demand that a solution address descendants of the original refugees. [9]
Negotiations occur today, however, in a context substantially different that those surrounding the previous attempt at comprehensive negotiations at Camp David seven years ago.
 
For example, in June 2007, Iran-backed Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. [10] Following the violent coup, Hamas has more firmly entrenched its stronghold on the Gaza Strip. Fortified by the support of Iran and Hezbollah, Hamas has acquired vastly improved weaponry and now deploys a coordinated network of observation posts, infantry and antitank forces. [11]
 
Since Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, in which 9 , 000 Israelis were uprooted from their communities in hopes of paving the way for a Palestinian state , more than 3,600 rockets and mortar bombs have been fired at Israeli towns and communities. [12] In addition, dozens of militants trained in Iran and Lebanon have created a system of control and coordination, complete with a chain of command for every area in the Gaza Strip. [13] Iranian weapons and funding, as well as Hamas militants trained in Iran , are routinely smuggled through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt . Since Israel ’s withdrawal from Gaza Palestinian militants have smuggled more than 130 tons of explosives through these tunnels. [14]
According to the IDF, Hamas is on its way to establishing a bunker system along with fortified rocket-launching and surveillance positions along the security fence on Gaza ’s border with Israel . [15] In addition, Hamas has a declared policy of providing sanctuary in the Gaza Strip to any jihadist militants.[16]
 
In Oct. 2007, senior Hamas official Nizar Riyan said Hamas will overthrow Fatah and take over the West Bank in less than a year. [17]
 
The threat posed by Hamas’s control of Gaza continues to evolve. On Jan. 3, for the first time a Katyusha rocket fired from Gaza Strip on Thursday morning struck the northern part of the Israeli city of Ashkelon , putting an additional several thousand Israeli civilians in rocket range of Gaza . [18] Militants acquired the rocket that struck Ashkelon, a Grad-type Katyusha, from Iran . [19]
 
For more information on the threat of Hamas, see background information and an IDF Spokesperson presentation.
 
 

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Footnotes

[1] “Bush, Olmert Hold a News Conference in Jerusalem ," The Washington Post, Jan. 9, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010901716.html
[2] Myers, Steven Lee, "As Clock Ticks, Bush Outlines Two-State Mideast Peace Plan," The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11prexy.html?ref=todayspaper
[3] "President Bush Discusses Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process," The White House Website, Jan. 10, 2008, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080110-3.html
[4] "Road Map for Peace in the Middle East: Israeli/Palestinian Reciprocal Action, Quartet Support," U.S. Department of State Web site, July 16, 2003, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/22520.htm
[5] "President Bush Discusses Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process," The White House Website, Jan. 10, 2008, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080110-3.html
[6] Myers, Steven Lee, "As Clock Ticks, Bush Outlines Two-State Mideast Peace Plan," The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11prexy.html?ref=todayspaper
[7] Sontag, Deborah, "A special report; Quest for Mideast Peace: How and Why It Failed," The New York Times, July 26, 2001, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EFD8173DF935A15754C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=7
[8] Myers, Steven Lee, "As Clock Ticks, Bush Outlines Two-State Mideast Peace Plan," the New York Times, Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11prexy.html?ref=todayspaper
[9] The Stanford Daily Staff, "Jewish Refugees from Arab countries: The forgotten refugees," The Stanford Daily, Jan. 28, 2003, http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2003/1/28/jewishRefugeesFromArabCountriesTheForgottenRefugees
[10] "Hamas seizes control of Gaza," National Public Radio Web site, June 15, 2007, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11107933
[11] Harel, Amos, “IDF's tactical upper hand over Hamas in Gaza is diminishing,� Haaretz, Oct. 30, 2007, http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/918243.html
[12] IDF Spokesman’s Unit , Dec. 4 , 2007
[13] Harel, Amos, “IDF's tactical upper hand over Hamas in Gaza is diminishing,� Haaretz, Oct. 30, 2007, http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/918243.html
[14] " 2007 Summary of Palestinian Terror," Israel General Security Services Website (Hebrew), accessed Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.shabak.gov.il/publications/Pages/sikum2007.aspx
[15] Katz , Yaakov , “'Hamas building bunkers near border , '� The Jerusalem Post , Oct. 29 , 2007 , http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380683478&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[16] Dahoah-Halevi, Jonathan, "The 'Army of the Nation'- Another Al-Qaeda Affiliate in the Gaza Strip,' Jerusalem Issue Briefs, Vol. 7, No. 12 via The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Web site, Aug. 7 2007, http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PID=0&IID=1748
[17] Katz , Yaakov , “'Hamas building bunkers near border , '� The Jerusalem Post , Oct. 29 , 2007 , http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380683478&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[18] Harel, Amos, "Analysis: Katyusha in Ashkelon/ The other side is cautious too," Haaretz, Jan.3, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=941713&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5
[19] Azoulay, Yuval, Issacharoff, Avi, Grinberg, Mijal, "Nine Gazans killed by IDF fire; Katyusha hits north Ashkelon," Haaretz, Jan. 4, 2008, http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/941389.html

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