WarSclerotic

Op-Ed: Netanyahu may be blackmailed into peace negotiations

Source: Op-Ed: Netanyahu may be blackmailed into peace negotiations | JerusalemOnline

Photo Credit: Channel 2 News

There is something fishy about the coincidence of the Mimran scandal breaking during the French summit, followed by ongoing revelations during Netanyahu’s Moscow meetings with Putin, during which it was reported he accepted the Saudi Peace Initiative. Has Netanyahu’s alleged corruption put him in a position of receiving an offer he cannot refuse?

Coincidence does occasionally happen in politics and diplomacy, but on the whole, it’s regarded by practitioners of these arts as something akin to reports of UFO sightings, in that both, although possible and sometimes seemingly plausible, are not very probable, and as such should be regarded with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The current package of coincidences regarding the proximity of timelines between the French summit, Netanyahu’s Moscow trip and the breaking of “Mimrangate” is no exception.

According to a retired senior Western intelligence official, still very much in the know, none of the above is coincidental.

In an exclusive interview with Jerusalem Online, the official said that France, in coordination with other players, is sending Netanyahu a message. “They are telling him in no mean terms that the French authorities have proof of a corrupt relationship between him and Mimran and that the decision whether to hand over documents and other evidence to the relevant Israeli authorities is up to them”.

“French law enforcement authorities have already reached an understanding with Arnaud Mimran”, he said. “In return for leniency, and possibly even a future Presidential pardon, he has spilled the beans and given French authorities a full and detailed picture of all the monies and presents he has given Netanyahu over the years”. “The purpose of last week’s trip to Israel by French Premier Manuel Valls was to give Netanyahu a heads up as to what he could expect if he continued his current policies”. “Netanayhu through he could call their bluff, and politely told Valls to get lost”. This resulted in the affair breaking during the Paris summit, the diplomatic equivalent of a warning shot across the bow.

Immediately afterwards Netanyahu was invited for an unplanned meeting with Putin. During this meeting, the Russians, unusually for them, held a western style press conference during which Netanayhu found himself peppered by questions about Mimrangate.

The climax of the summit was the statement by Russian foreign Minister Levrov that Netanayhu had agreed to accept the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for negotiations, without demanding prior changes. “This was stage two of the offer that cannot be refused”, said the former official. “In order to avoid making it obvious what France was up to, it was agreed upon by France, the US (that’s why Kerry was there) and Russia that stage two would take place in Moscow”. This is what we witnessed earlier today (Wednesday 8^th of June) when Levrov released his bombshell of a statement, catching Netanyahu off guard.

This means that the US, France and Russian (and the UK and Germany as well) are acting in close cooperation, in order to force Netanayhu to either play ball of find himself out of office.

It is no secret that there isn’t a Western leader who doesn’t want to see Netanyahu depart the PM’s office ASAP. Obama in particular is believed to have decided to leave no stone unturned in an effort to see Netanyahu move out of the PM’s to his Caesarea mansion before he and Michelle leave the White House for their recently purchased mansion in Chicago.

It seems that Netanyahu’s addiction to ‘la dolce vita”, funded by a penchant for financial shenanigans and dodgy ethics has finally caught up with him, providing the international community with the rope and tree it has long been looking for.

There is no evidence of any sort that this case has in any way been fabricated. The French have been investigating Mimran for some time. The official did not deny the possibility that France had received some of the evidence it needed to crack the case from the NSA. We know, thanks to Edward Snowden, that the NSA and the GCHQ, its British equivalent, had cooperated in intercepting and decrypting top-secret Israeli communications, which had enabled them to electronically spy on Netanyahu for several years.

If Netanyahu hadn’t become so bent, he would not be in a position where he is extremely vulnerable to pressure to make strategic decisions based not on what he believes is in the county’s interest, but to avoid indictment, disgrace and prison.

Even Israelis who vehemently disagree with Netanyahu’s policies (present company included) cannot and should not be thrilled by the fact that their PM is very likely about to make crucial decisions regarding the country’s future under such dubious circumstances.

Israeli society unfortunately is reaping what it has sowed. For too long it has been willing to tolerate Prime Ministerial monkey business, deluding itself into believing that it would never affect decision making when it came to national security issues. This time it seems Israel will not be able to dodge this bullet.

Even if Netanyahu does the only honorable thing and resigns, Israel may not be out of the woods. Is it a coincidence that Lieberman assumed the Defense ministry a week before this broke? Given Russia’s involvement, it seems unlikely. Lieberman has long standing relationships with Putin and other leading Russian politicians and government sanctioned tycoons. To this day, some senior Israeli officials harbor suspicions that he is, or at least was a Russian mole. Several years a former Defense Minister suggested to the ISA (Shin Bet), they investigate this possibility. It was subsequently decided that such an investigation might not be in the national interest, and that even if it was true, he was more useful in politics than in a cell. Of course, no one ever suspected that he would one day be the country’s Defense Minister. This leads to one more question that must be asked. Is it possible that one of the reasons Russia is cooperating with France is the opportunity this opens to see Lieberman become Prime Minister?