TEL AVIV – There is immediate information that the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad terrorist organization may attempt to disrupt President Obama’s visit here next month with attacks aimed at derailing Israeli-Palestinian talks, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.
The officials stressed there is no known threat against Obama himself or any U.S. targets.
Rather, Islamic Jihad is planning for possible attacks within the West Bank as well as inside major Israeli cities before and after Obama’s trip, said the officials.
The officials fear Iran is trying to disrupt planned Israeli-Palestinian dialogue aimed at creating a Palestinian Authority-led state. Obama’s visit is ostensibly aimed, among other things, at restarting these long stalled negotiations.
Since Hamas itself does not oppose the talks, Iran must reach out to Islamic Jihad, largely funded by Tehran, to carry out any attacks, said the officials.
Based on this information, PA security forces working with Israeli security agencies have been leading a major campaign in recent days to minimize Islamic Jihad cells in Jenin and surrounding villages, said the officials.
THIS is why Obama visiting Israel
Obama is due in Israel next month in his first trip here as president.
Last week, WND reported Obama’s planned visit has already secured Israeli and Palestinian pledges to restart so-called land-for-peace talks, according to informed Palestinian and Israeli officials.
The officials disclosed the Obama administration told both sides the talks would be aimed at creating a Palestinian state in what is known as the 1967 borders, meaning an Israeli retreat from some of the strategic West Bank and possibly some eastern section of Jerusalem.
According to the informed officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that once the talks begin there will be a silent, undeclared freeze on all Jewish construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem with the exception of what are known as main blocs – Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion.
The officials said the White House was adamant that Israeli talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas begin regardless of the position of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Still, the U.S. is supporting Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey in back-door efforts to broker a national-unity deal between Abbas and Hamas during the same time period the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are set to take place, the officials said.
There is already close coordination between the White House and likely incoming members of Netanyahu’s government coalition who are known to be sympathetic to creating a Palestinian state, primarily former opposition leader Tzipi Livni.
Further, WND was told Livni and former Minister Haim Ramon are currently coordinating the renewal of talks with the PA’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat.
Regarding Jerusalem, the informed Israeli and Palestinian officials said the White House has been nonspecific other than to champion talks based on what is known as the Clinton parameters.
The formula, pushed by Bill Clinton during the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab.
WND previously reported Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, changing facts on the ground that result in Arab majorities on certain neighborhoods.
The informed officials, meanwhile, said the White House expects the issue of Jerusalem to be a key impediment in reaching a deal and is therefore discussing the formation of an international committee to help smooth the process.
Previous Israeli-Palestinian talks saw the U.S. naming an envoy meant to broker between the two sides. According to the officials speaking to WND, the White House has expressed interest in naming an envoy but has doubts about whether such a point man will be successful.
The officials said the PA is pushing for a U.S. envoy while Netanyahu’s government is indifferent to the idea.
As a way to entice the PA back to the bargaining table, the White House agreed to release some $200 million in aid that it has withheld for months, said the officials. According to the officials, the deal was brokered with the Palestinians by incoming Secretary of State John Kerry.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/iran-terror-threat-to-obamas-israel-trip/#7W88YCfAZRWyWBQG.99
