Middle East Inside Line: Israel's Lieberman Renews Attack on Palestinian Authority

Middle East Inside Line: Threats Begin To Fly Between Palestine & Israel

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Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated on Monday that the Palestinian Authority was playing an "ugly and double game," by seeking Israel's support in crushing Hamas while submitting simultaneous complaints to the international community. He said:

During Operation Cast Lead, the Palestinian Authority pressured us to crush Hamas. Then, a month later, they submitted a complaint against us to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Even before the Goldstone Commission published its damning report about Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, there were a thousand complaints against Israel at the ICC, a large number of them encouraged by the PA.

Lieberman placed the bomb in the hands of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas with an accusation which might be aimed at increasing the tension between Hamas and the PA. This is highly likely to bring out a more sharp-tongued Abbas, determined to save his position, while also providing relatively easy conditions for the Netanyahu government to "cope with" the demands of the international community regarding Palestine.

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Palestine: Goldstone Report Goes Back to UN General Assembly

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The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to discuss the Goldstone Report on Wednesday. However, a joint French-British statement, delivered to the members of the Assembly on Monday, is calling for the members to agree on three "red lines" already confirmed by the 27 members of the European Union. The "red lines" are:

- A resolution brought for the approval of the General Assembly will not include operational steps, like taking the matter to the Security Council or the International Court of Justice.

- The resolution would call on Israel and the Palestinians to embark on an independent investigation into the events of Operation Cast Lead, and the allegations of war crimes.

- The handling of the Goldstone report will return to the Human Rights Council, the UN body in Geneva. The parties will have to report to the council on the findings of their investigations in a few months.

Even if Palestinian leaders were inclined to accept these condition, they now face signficant pressure from their own constituents. On the other hand, it is also certain that there will be no sanctions on Israel from the Security Council since Washington, Paris and London had already declared their positions regarding the Goldstone Report. Welcome to the deadlock of politics....