Monday, November 15, 2010
The US takes something off the table
There was something important to Israel that Secretary of State Clinton took off the table in last Thursday's meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Funny, I haven't seen thismentioned in the Israeli media.What is different about the current U.S. package from a draft version that was presented to the Israelis in September and October is that the latest one does not explicitly mention the U.S. agreeing to a long-term Israeli Defense Forces presence in the Jordan Valley – on the West Bank/Israel’s eastern front with Jordan, Makovsky said.You want to tell me that they're going to agree on the borders during those three months and leave this issue open?
“What’s different is that that some of the sensitive issues – the issue of [an IDF presence in] the Jordan Valley – how long the transition there will last – is basically not mentioned,” said Makovsky, currently traveling in Israel and the West Bank, who added that it might be something that will be part of discussions on a long-term U.S.-Israeli security agreement that will be negotiated in parallel to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
Israeli officials have argued that the Israeli Defense Forces need to keep a long-term presence on Israel’s border with Jordan to secure the territory from threats from the eastern front. But Palestinian leaders have objected to an Israeli military presence in their future state and have proposed instead some sort of international force.
Source: Israel Matzav
