Wikileaks 2008: Palestinian Leaders on Israeli Settlements and Gaza "Gone Forever"

Saeb Erekat (left) and Salam FayyadA leaked US cable summarises a July 2008 discussion between the Prime Minister of the West Bank, Salam Fayyad, and chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations. While Fayyad thanked Washington for "unprecedented" assistance, complained about Israel's "unwanted" actions and discussed "relations" with Gazans; Erekat underlined the Palestinian Authority's commitment to finish a framework for permanent status.

Fayyad commented that "there [had been] a twelvefold increase in [Israeli] settlement tenders...compared to 2007, which has undermined confidence in peace and the domestic standing of PA leaders".

That is a telling remark. As Haaretz's Aluf Benn noted last September, whenever the diplomatic process stalls and Israel feels isolated internationally, settlement expansion stops, but when peace seems just around the corner and Israel enjoys good international relations, the settlement project flies forward. He adds:

This is how it was in the days of Menachem Begin (peace with Egypt and 100 new settlements in the West Bank ), Yitzhak Rabin (the Oslo Accords and the paving of bypass roads bringing the settlements closer to Israel's center ), Benjamin Netanyahu (building Har Homa after the Hebron Agreement ), Ehud Barak (thousands of new apartments in the occupied territories on the way to the Camp David Summit ), and Ehud Olmert (increased construction around Jerusalem after the Annapolis Conference ).

This is the settlement paradox: They expand in direct proportion to advances in the diplomatic process. When there is no peace, there is no construction, and when there are contacts, ceremonies and optimism, hundreds of new homes sprout up in the hills of the West Bank. Anyone who wants to stop the settlements has to throw a wrench in the negotiations. And those who want to fill the territories with settlers must encourage the givers-and-takers. 

Fayyad also pointed to the dilemma for Gaza. On the one hand, Fayyad argues that "its crossings must be controlled or it will be gone forever", but on the other, he warns Americans and Israelis not to give Hamas the 'vulnerability' excuse to exploit the Gazans. The West Bank Prime Minister wanted to talk to Hamas and bring it to the legitimate political arena. This, however, could not come true at the expense of Israel's "security".