Israel Declares Time for Negotiations Over

In the wake of the recent bombing of a bus in Jerusalem that killed and injured dozens of Israeli civilians, the Israeli government has declared that the time for negotiations with the Palestinians is over. However, the seriousness of Israel's commitment to "negotiations" has been in question since the much-touted U.S. sponsored "road map" was first announced earlier this summer. Indeed, from the outset, Prime Minister Sharon has made no secret of his reluctance to implement the plan.

The recent suicide bombings were entirely predictable. They were not arbitrary "terrorist" attacks carried out despite the temporary truce declared by Hamas and Islamic Jihad at the end of June, as portrayed in the media. Rather, they were a direct response to renewed Israeli targeted assassinations of Palestinian militants and the inevitable associated civilian casualties. Every such assassination results in reprisals against Israelis, exposing the hypocrisy of the Sharon government's claim that such assassinations are necessary in order to protect Israeli security.

Hamas has stated that the two suicide attacks carried out on August 12 were in reprisal for the killing of Hamas militants Hamis Abu-Salam and Faiz A-Sadar as well as two Palestinian civilians at the Askar refugee camp near Nablus a week earlier. The Jerusalem bus bombing followed the assassination of Mohammed Seder, Islamic Jihad's military leader in Hebron. The response of the Israeli government was predictable. Saying that it could not wait any longer for Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas to reign in the "terrorists", it launched an airstrike on Gaza City that killed Ismail Abu Shaneb, a top political leader of Hamas.

Not surprisingly, the response of Hamas and Islamic Jihad was to immediately call off the ceasefire and promise revenge. Israel, for its part, declared the end to negotiations, reoccupied and enforced closure on areas of the West Bank and Gaza and stepped up its arbitrary searches and arrests throughout the occupied territories.

Commenting on recent developments, Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, writing in the daily newspaper Ha'aretz, pointed out: "Much as Israel claims that the Palestinians are violating the truce…its pleading can't alter the facts: up until Israel renewed its assassinations campaign, there [had been] no suicide bombings and the two attacks last week were direct responses to the Askar refugee camp slayings." He continued: "From the start - before this last wave of assassinations - Israel grimaced as it went about fulfilling its obligations under the road map; it acted stingily, as though being forced against its will."

Indeed, virtually all the steps taken by Israel were done grudgingly and were little more than gestures in front of the cameras - dismantling one or two outposts, while turning a blind eye to the construction of new ones; release of only a token number of Palestinians prisoners, while most remain held without charge or trial; partial withdrawal from a handful of Palestinian cities and widely reported road openings that did not happen in fact on the ground. All of this while the house demolitions and construction of the separation wall continue. And now the resumption of targeted assassinations as well.

Indeed, the actions of the Israeli government seem to have been designed to derail the "road map" from the start. At a time when Hamas and Islamic Jihad had agreed to a temporary ceasefire, it is hard to read the resumption of targeted assassinations against their activists and leaders as anything but a provocation and an attempt to sabotage any kind of move towards peace.