Ahmad Tibi: Netanyahu does everything to prevent an agreement

“Netanyahu is not saying anything new. He is doing everything, absolutely everything, so that an agreement won’t happen. So why should anyone wonder why the Palestinian leadership is skeptical? It is closer to appealing to the UN institutions than to signing an agreement.” These are the words of Knesset member Ahmad Tibi while looking at a report from the Dec. 30 Likud meeting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used that gathering to deliver a diplomatic statement ostensibly emphasizing his commitment to an agreement with the Palestinians.

The interview with Tibi took place in his office in the Knesset, shortly after the arrival in Israel of US Secretary of State John Kerry on Jan. 2 for another round of peace-related talks. Tibi cannot understand from where the American emissary draws his optimism. Tibi himself had spoken to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] in the morning, after having met with him three days earlier in Ramallah. Tibi is also in constant contact with Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Tibi has been an active, prominent Knesset member for almost 15 years. Recognition in Israel is as important to him as the recognition of the Palestinian public. In the middle of the interview, he receives news that he has been elected “man of the year” among Arab Israelis, by a huge margin, on the popular, Gaza-based Donia Alwatan Palestinian website. Tibi is overjoyed.

The interview with him offers a glimpse into the mood of the Palestinian leadership about the moment of truth in Kerry’s negotiation efforts. Tibi says decisively that the process is headed for failure. Transmitting messages? Playing the blame game? It doesn’t really matter. This, he asserts, is how the peace process appears in the eyes of those on the other side [i.e., the Palestinians].