Some Input from Jerusalem

As the Israeli elections come closer, some notes from the Jerusalem Post.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel’s regular allowing of Qatari funds to be transferred into Gaza, saying it is part of a broader strategy to keep Hamas and the Palestinian Authority separate, a source in Monday’s Likud faction meeting said.

Netanyahu explained that, in the past, the PA transferred the millions of dollars to Hamas in Gaza. He argued that it was better for Israel to serve as the pipeline to ensure the funds don’t go to terrorism.

“Now that we are supervising, we know it’s going to humanitarian causes,” the source said, paraphrasing Netanyahu.

The money comes from the Qatar Fund for Development established in 2002 to help the economic development of Arab countries and developing countries. Netanyahu’s response was to opposition by the Blue and White Party who wanted to block the funds altogether calling them mafia style protection payments.

The prime minister also said that, “whoever is against a Palestinian state should be for” transferring the funds to Gaza, because maintaining a separation between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza helps prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The implication being that Blue and White is strongly opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian State at least in the foreseeable future.

The bottom line is that the Israelis don’t trust the Palestinians including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority. It’s hard to have a partnership when there’s no trust.

The Blue and White Party is an alliance looking to topple the Likud party as the party with the most seats in the upcoming elections but have slid lightly in the most recent polls. The last poll showed Blue and White with 33 seats and Likud with 29 out of a total of 120 Knesset seats.

Even if they manage to gain the most seats the government will still be created based upon which party leader the President of Israel (Reuvin Rivlin) believes has the best chance of putting together a majority coalition. So Blue and White could win the most seats but Netanyahu could still form the government.

Blue and White appear to have a strategy aimed at solidifying Israeli occupation in the West bank settlements, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley. Three of its four senior leaders are former IDF chiefs of staff so I’m not expecting a lot of peace making efforts.

Let’s put it this way, neither “Two-State Solution” nor “Palestinian State” appears in the party’s charter. Here’s a direct quote from the charter.

"We will initiate a regional conference with the Arab countries that seek stability, and deepen the process of separation from the Palestinians while maintaining the uncompromising security interests of the State of Israel and the IDF's freedom of action everywhere.”

This is a very divide and conquer military like approach. I’m also reading a soldier’s mentality regarding Hamas in Gaza.

"Hamas, whose capabilities are minuscule in relation to the IDF, is provocative and is embittering the lives of the residents of the south.”

One last quote form the Blue and White Charter.

"We will heal the wounds created by the current government in relations with world Jewry, especially in the United States."

One more time, Israel doesn’t trust the Palestinians and they feel they’re justified in not trusting them. This is the fundamental problem. To be honest I don’t blame them; I wouldn’t trust them either.