Will the DoP be subject to prior ratification?

By Ted Belman

In a speech to the Knesset, Livni said,

““if there is any agreement with the Palestinians, it will be brought to the government for its approval, and then to the Knesset for ratification as well.”

To properly provide for this such an agreement as opposed to a tentative agreement or draft agreement would provide that it is null and void unless and until ratified.

The exact translation from Hebrew of this document provided,

“This declaration must be agreed on by both the Israeli and Palestinian sides before the US-sponsored autumn peace summit. It will then be proposed and documented as international resolutions, the statement read.”

Whether this is part of a statement or the agreement is not clear.
It also provided “Israel will keep some settlement blocs and maintain geographic contiguity in Palestine and horizons for economic prosperity.”

In contrast the translation provided by Hillel Fendel said “An exchange of territory will be enabled on a 1:1 basis, to preserve settlement blocs in Israeli hands and to guarantee Palestinian contiguity and economic development.”

This wording is considerably different. The later translation leaves out the adjective before “settlement blocks” and guarantees economic development. Remember the discussions about the absence of “the” or “all” before “territories in Resolution 242.

And it includes no mention of the need for ratification.

Where’s the official GoI version. Based on statements by Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu, I expect that at a minimum they will vote agrainst the Agreement or will bolt the coaltion. In both cases, the agreement and the “peace” conference in November will not proceed.

If they break up the coalition, elections will follow.

Emanuel Winston has this take,

Olmert has said that this newest “DOP” will be presented to the Knesset “BEFORE BEING IMPLEMENTED”. That means that Israel can sign this commitment with international powers accepting this commitment as law BEFORE THE KNESSET OR THE ISRAELI PEOPLE CAN VOTE ON WHATEVER OLMERT COMMITS TO SURRENDER!!??

Olmert has promised NOT to give his Cabinet or the Knesset or the Israeli people the opportunity to approve or reject the “Declaration of Principles” before Olmert sticks Israel with the grave commitment to surrender their country, their sovereignty, their safety and their loved ones.