'The Mayor of Ramallah': Israel Belittles Abbas' Demands for Palestinians in Saudi Deal -
Despite the Biden administration insisting that without significant measures on behalf of the Palestinians it will be difficult to put together an agreement and push it through the Senate, Israeli officials continue to dismiss the Palestinian demands and are accusing the U.S. of paying too much attention to the issue.
A senior Israeli official close to Netanyahu has said on several occasions to people in the Biden administration that the “mayor of Ramallah” – a moniker Israeli officials have given Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and which is aimed at diminishing his status and importance – “won’t determine the details of an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Credit: Reuters
A less blunt and more polite version of this statement appeared in interviews Benjamin Netanyahu gave to the American media during his visit to the United States last month, in which the prime minister said that the Palestinians should not be given veto power over the details of the agreement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority some time in the next few weeks to try to create grounds for progress. Blinken said last month that the Saudis have sent a clear message to the U.S. that an agreement with Israel will require significant concessions to the Palestinians. The White House national security adviser also said last weekend that to reach an agreement all sides will have to compromise.
The primary point of contention between Israel and the United States concerns just how committed the Saudis are to the Palestinians. Over the past few days, senior Israeli officials have repeatedly quoted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s interview on Fox News as proof that the Saudis intend to do the minimum possible on the Palestinian front. Bin-Salman said in the interview that an agreement with Israel should include measures that will “ease the life of the Palestinians,” but didn’t make any mention of diplomatic aspects or practical steps.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin SalmanCredit: How Hwee Young / POOL European P
The Biden administration on the other hand points to other measures and statements from the Saudis that indicate the opposite, such as the gathering led by the Saudi foreign minister on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last month aimed at promoting a two-state solution. In a call with Haaretz, a senior U.S. official vigorously denied Israeli claims that the Biden administration was dictating to the Saudis a tough position on the Palestinian issue.
Netanyahu wants to limit the Palestinian gains from an agreement to Saudi financial support. The Palestinian Authority has been in a grave financial crisis for the last two years and has encountered difficulties in raising funds given the focus of European countries on the war in Ukraine. A cash flow of a few billion dollars from Saudi Arabia will stabilize the PA and prevent its collapse.
Netanyahu and Ron Dermer, the minister for strategic affairs, are trying to persuade the administration that such a financial injection along with a few symbolic measures will be enough to satisfy both the Palestinians and the Saudi leadership. If that ends up being the Palestinian component of an agreement, Netanyahu’s coalition partners Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir will not object.
The Palestinians, for their part, have submitted a relatively modest list of demands to the Saudis and the U.S.; nevertheless, it will be impossible for the Netanyahu government to accept in its current constellation. The Palestinian demands include the transfer of territories in the West Bank to PA control, restrictions on Israeli building in the settlements and a public commitment to the future establishment of a Palestinian state. Moreover, the PA is demanding that Israel stick to commitments made earlier this year at meetings at Sharm el-Sheikh and in Aqaba on issues such as IDF operations within Palestinian towns, not legalizing illegal outposts, and strengthening the status of the PA.
The Palestinians may have reduced their demands, but they are still likely to be unpalatable for Netanyahu’s coalition partners. On the other hand, the Palestinians fear a repeat of the Abraham Accords, which were mediated between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 and which left the Palestinians out of the picture and provided them almost zero gains.
The signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords at the White House in 2020.Credit: Avi Ahayon / Government Press Office
A diplomatic source who is in contact with the Palestinians told Haaretz that Ramallah views the American position with suspicion and fears that the Biden administration’s interests in reaching an agreement with the Saudis, such as lowering the price of oil and distancing Saudi Arabia from the Chinese sphere of influence, will beat out its commitment to the Palestinians.
“They don’t trust President Biden and his team. At the beginning of his term Biden promised that he would at least reopen the American consulate to the Palestinians that was shut during the time of the Trump administration, but he still hasn’t done that,” said the diplomatic source. “The only hope they have is that some Democratic senators push on the Palestinian issue and that this will force the White House to try harder.”
The diplomatic source added that what Netanyahu is offering the Palestinians is essentially “to take the money that they aren’t managing to raise elsewhere at the moment, and say thank you.” However, he expressed doubts whether the Palestinian Authority would accept such an outline. “If it turns out that they gave everything up for Saudi money then there is a greater chance that it will lead to an intifada against the PA in Jenin, Nablus and Hebron.”
Israel is continuing to debate the Saudi request from the U.S. to establish a civil nuclear program in the Kingdom with Saudi control over the enrichment process, as well as the American proposition that the process be under U.S. control.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet later this month to hear the position of the defense establishment and the relevant professional bodies. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has appointed two teams to formulate recommendations on the issue. The military team is headed by IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi and Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen (res) Eyal Zamir, who will coordinate the bodies under his charge – including the political directorate at the ministry, the Director of Security of the Defense Establishment, the Mossad and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission.
Will Iran try to interfere?
As negotiations on the agreement progress, there will be growing concern about attempts to disrupt it and about increased military friction across the Middle East. The Iranians, who have publicly condemned the attempts at rapprochement between the Saudis and Israel, can intervene by means of indirect attacks on Saudi Arabia (through the Houthis in Yemen) or by ramping things up along the Israel-Lebanon border and the Palestinian arena.
Over the past week, Egypt and Qatar have been active in negotiations to restore the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. For the time being, the violent Palestinian demonstrations near the border fence have stopped, after Hamas received a commitment that Israel would increase the number of workers from Gaza allowed to enter its territory to 20,000.
Protesters on the Israel-Gaza border, last week.Credit: Said Khatib - AFP
This time, Egypt had another reason to intervene and show it can achieve positive results. This relates to the corruption scandal, in which Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is charged with passing sensitive information to the regime in Cairo in exchange for large sums of money (he has temporarily stepped down from his position in the wake of the accusation).
The affair sparked a renewed debate in Washington about the possibility of reducing American military aid to Cairo. Egypt felt that it was important to show the Biden administration they are still capable of bringing about positive moves in the region.