FATAH'S EMPTY REFERENDUM

Abbas' Gamble Is Doomed - Shlomo Ben-Ami
Referenda are supposed to approve peace deals; they are not made in advance of peace negotiations to tie the hands of the negotiators. What may be a potential platform for a Palestinian consensus is clearly a nonstarter from Israel's point of view. The covenant Abbas seeks to have approved by a referendum simply falls short of meeting the requirements of the international community for Hamas to be granted international legitimacy. It contains no explicit recognition of Israel, it does not advance a commitment to stop violent activities, and it does not endorse existing agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. It also insists on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their former lands in Israel. The writer is a former foreign minister of Israel. (International Herald Tribune)