Weekly Commentary: Asymmetry in Israeli-Palestinian relationship -
cornerstone of Oslo

Aaron Lerner Date: 6 July, 2006

Critics of Israel frequently point to the asymmetric relationship between
Israel and the Palestinians as if it isn't "fair".

But it was not supposed to be symmetric.

Oslo did not have balanced rights between Israel and the PLO;

Oslo set limits on the size, composition, arming and deployment of
Palestinian security forces - and no limits on Israeli forces.

Oslo gave Israel the right to veto any Palestinian construction which may
harm, damage or adversely affect Jewish settlements and military locations
or the infrastructure serving them [please note that "infrastructure" can
also include access roads] while putting no such restrictions on Jewish
construction..

And there was a reason for that.

Because Oslo was not launched between equal powers. At the time Oslo was
launched there was no intifada. In fact, Israel's "wanted list" of
terrorists was on a continual decline.

The Israelis who launched Oslo were driven by ideology - not desperation.

Now you may tell a child that he should defer to his younger sibling because
he is smaller, but in the real world, when two bodies deal with each other,
asymmetric power leads to asymmetric results that reflect this. That is not
to say that it is a zero-sum world, just that the deals that are made
reflect the cards the parties are holding.

And so, with Arafat being plucked from the dung heap of history, he agreed
that a cornerstone of Oslo would be an extremely asymmetric arrangement:

As he wrote in that first letter to Rabin on September 9, 1993 (and as
repeated in the agreements):

"The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful
resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all
outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through
negotiations."

As the recognized leader of the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat forfeited the
right take his struggle with Israel beyond the negotiating table.

And while there are those who claim that the Palestinians had a right under
international conventions to fight what they termed the Israeli occupation,
that commitment, by their leader, stripped the Palestinians of any
legitimate claim to the right to use force and violence.

The argument against Palestinian attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip
should not be that Israel retreated completely from it - as if to possibly
imply that it is somehow more acceptable for a Palestinian to murder a Jew
at the Western Wall (beyond the Green Line) than to launch a Qassam from
Gaza to Sderot.

The argument should be that Palestinians forfeited the right to attack
anyone - including soldiers - anywhere - be it in Tel Rumeida or Tel Aviv.

And unfortunately there appears to be no one of any significance on the
Palestinian side either willing or able to honor this basic commitment.

When we started the Oslo experiment over a decade ago, the ideologues who
plunged us into it assured us that if it failed that the IDF could always
restore the situation.

Yet today, faced with the mess, ideologues such as Defense Minister Amir
Peretz are unable to come to grips with the harsh reality that an ongoing
Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip is a necessary condition for stability -
and that after the implementation of a Gaza version of the highly successful
Operation Defensive Shield that was carried out in the West Bank.

No. That doesn't mean IDF forces carrying out regularly scheduled patrols
across the Gaza Strip - just as Israel doesn't regularly schedule patrols in
Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah or the other cities in the West Bank. But Israel
can and does go anywhere in the West Bank anytime it considers necessary.
And thanks to the success of Defensive Shield and follow-up operations it is
able to do so with a minimum of manpower and supporting equipment.

This isn't the option that Peretz and his fellow travelers prefer, but at
this stage it's the realistic option.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il