Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Dershowitz the Honest Broker

Some would find it laughable. But if this Ha'aretz report is to be believed, Dershowitz has just scored a major breakthrough with Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas: an agreement on a settlement freeze formula that would bring the PA back to the table. The agreement is based on Dershowitz's proposal in the Wall Street Journal back in June, so it's good that he's actually following up on that. Kudos there.

Of course, the next question is whether the Israeli government will agree. One hopes that Dershowitz still has enough sway with the current right-wing government to get them to listen; but given Bibi's track record one worries. To turn a phrase from Abba Eban, now it seems that he is the one who never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Dershowitz says his next stop is to pitch the proposal to the Israeli government. Obviously, I hope they say yes -- but I'm curious how Dershowitz will react if they say no.