Netanyahu's agenda

On the agenda of the stalemated peace negotiations in the region are issues such as the return of Golan Heights to Syria, making East Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state and the right of return for refugees.

But on Netanyahu's agenda is one issue: Israeli security.

Innately didactic and unyielding, Netanyahu has allowed one month to pass since his election into office without a single step being taken toward normalizing relations between his country and its Arab neighbors.

In fact, his only tangible step has been to launch a barrage of snappy sound bites and extremist rhetoric at Egypt and the other Arab countries for holding the Arab summit in Cairo last month.

But if Netanyahu were truly interested in promoting Israel's internal security interests, would he not have already initiated the redeployment of troops from Hebron?

Would he also have pondered, pouted and pontificated before grudgingly agreeing to 'open channels of communications at all levels' with the self-rule Palestinian Authority?

In short, would he not have just embraced peace for the sake of peace, secure in the knowledge that the only way to ensure Israel's security would be to undo the blindfold over his eyes and cooperate rather than retaliate?

This is the political reality he is faced with and refuses to accept. Using a recent attack by a break-off faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization as justification, Israel has launched yet another air assault on southern Lebanon, once again turning the country into the chessboard for its power struggle, taking the battle to the field instead of the negotiating table.

If Netanyahu is committed to anything, then it is to ignoring the advice of some members of his Cabinet and eschewing any tangible effort to promote anything but his self-serving interests.

-- Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo