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US 'may release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to kickstart peace process'
Palestinian statehood bid may derail Middle East peace process
(about 2 hours later)
An American currently serving a life sentence in a US jail for spying for Israel could be released as part of a putative 'grand bargain' to breathe life into the stricken Middle East peace process.
US-sponsored efforts to advance Middle East peace process appeared to be fragmenting last night, as the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, announced he would be seeking immediate recognition of 15 UN bodies and conventions as a further step towards statehood.
Indications that the US is considering releasing Jonathan Pollard, currently in his 29th year at a North Carolina prison, came in the last 36 hours amid a frantic round of US diplomacy that could see the secretary of state, John Kerry, back in the Middle East on Wednesday for the third time in a week for talks with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.
The new UN bid, backed unanimously by a crisis meeting of senior Palestinian officials, is significant because Abbas had been persuaded by the US to put the UN membership requests on hold last year in favour of nine months of peace talks in exchange for which Israel would release 104 long-term Palestinian prisoners. The latest moves came amid escalating demands and brinkmanship on both sides that highlighted the size of the gulf between the Israeli and Palestinian sides and the increasing desperation of the US to bridge the gap.
Palestinian officials said that visit was likely to depend on a meeting of political leaders on Tuesday night who were deciding their response to the proposed deal.
Israeli officials immediately interpreted Abbas's move as an attempt by the Palestinian side to extract more concessions.
As part of his latest efforts Kerry met with Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, on Monday evening and again on Tuesday before flying to Brussels for a Nato crisis meeting on Ukraine.
Announcing his decision during a televised signing ceremony of the documents, Abbas said: "We are not doing this against the US – this is our right. We never agreed to waive our right. We want to see a Palestinian state living side by side to Israel."
Kerry has been spearheading efforts to find a way out of the current deadlock in the US-sponsored Middle East peace process, which was restarted eight months ago, after Israel failed to release a fourth group of long-term Palestinian prisoners at the weekend as it had agreed to do.
The Palestinian move came days after Israel had failed to release the final group of prisoners, which had originally been scheduled for the weekend – a move Palestinian officials maintained demonstrated that Israel was reneging on the promises it made at the beginning of this round of talks. Following the announcement, a US official travelling with Kerry said the US secretary of state – who is in Brussels – had cancelled plans to travel back to the Middle East on Wednesday.
Sources close to the talks have described a proposed deal that would see Pollard being released in exchange for a far larger release of Palestinian prisoners – up to 400 according to some estimates.
In the immediate aftermath, analysts were divided over whether the renewed UN recognition bid was a gambit by Abbas or represented the end of Palestinian patience. Significantly, the Palestinian leadership has held back from applying to join the Rome treaty, which governs the international criminal court. Abbas made clear he was also willing to continue with talks until the deadline of 29 April. Despite cancelling his meeting with Abbas, Kerry insisted it was premature to write off the peace process, adding that there were "still lots of possibilities in play".
The reported deal would also see a new unofficial freeze on Israeli state settlement construction in the occupied West Bank in return for the Palestinians agreeing to extend the April deadline for talks.
The complex deal that had been floated over the previous 24 hours suggested the US might consider releasing the jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, who is in the 29th year of a life sentence in a US jail, in exchange for a larger release of Palestinian prisoners and a partial freeze of some Israeli settlement building activities. As more details emerged, it became clear how fragile the proposed deal was. It failed even to have the support of Pollard himself, who, it was disclosed, had waived his right to a parole hearing.
Israel had been seeking a guarantee that the Palestinians would not immediately abandon the latest round of talks when the original deadline for negotiating a framework agreement expires on 29 April.
The strongest opposition, however, came from the Palestinian leadership, which insisted that Israel was reneging on its obligations and refused suggestions to link the promised release of a fourth group of prisoners with a commitment to extend peace talks beyond a deadline set by the US for the end of April.
"According to the emerging deal, Pollard would be released before the Passover holiday," an official close to the talks said.
The proposed deal was heavily briefed by anonymous US and Israeli officials, but it was clear it fell far short of what the Palestinian side was demanding.Abbas's announcement came after a key meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's action committee which met prior to Abbas's statement.
A senior Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations told Haaretz newspaper: "Things are not sealed yet but we are not far from it. We are waiting for the Palestinians' response."
Kerry has spent days shuttling back and forth to the Middle East in an effort to find a solution in the Middle East. He met the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice on Monday evening and Tuesdayyesterday, after meeting Abbas in Jordan last week.
A key issue for the Palestinian side will be the very partial and non-binding nature of the proposed settlement freeze. "The (new) settlement freeze does not include East Jerusalem, private construction or building of public institutions," an Israeli source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another official involved said the Israeli government "will adopt a policy of restraint when it comes to state tenders for construction" in the West Bank.
The shape of the emerging deal was being briefed heavily by Israeli and US officials amid little apparent enthusiasm on the Palestinian side, which has been seeking a comprehensive freeze on Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories.
The deal as described would also fall far short of Palestinian ambitions from the talks, appearing to benefit Netanyahu most by extending the period of talks well into 2015 despite no progress on the core issues, while handing him the valuable political prize of Pollard's release.
Despite a discernible lack of enthusiasm for the deal from Palestinian officials, they are acutely conscious of being manoeuvred into a position where they can be portrayed as the party torpedoing the peace talks not least – they argue – because it was Israel's refusal to release the latest batch of prisoners that brought the talks to the brink of collapse.
The emerging deal is also not guaranteed of support within Netanyahu's government with some right wing MPs in his ruling coalition threatening to walk out if any further Palestinian prisoners are released.
Kerry and Barack Obama have put huge effort and US credibility on the line in their attempts to resuscitate the peace process, and usher in a two-state solution.
However hopes that both sides could be persuaded to sign up to a 'framework agreement' that would lay the ground work for substantive talks on the key issues, including the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the status of Jerusalem and over the right of return of Palestinian refugees, have hit a series of obstacles.
Pollard's release as part of such a deal, however, is being opposed by some of his most prominent supporters including the hard-line Israeli housing minister Uri Ariel, a member of Netanyahu's cabinet.
Ariel told Israel's Army Radio that Pollard opposed being freed from a US jail in exchange for Palestinians prisoners, saying people close to the convicted spy have told him that he opposes such a "shameful deal". Pollard waived a planned parole hearing on Tuesday according to officials at the prison in Butner, North Carolina, where he is being held.
Realistically, however, Pollard is unlikely to have any say in the circumstances of his release.
Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy when he gave classified documents to Israeli handlers. He was arrested in 1985 and granted Israeli citizenship in 1995.
US defence and intelligence officials have long argued against releasing Pollard and President Obama and his predecessors have refused to release him, despite pleas from Israeli leaders.
