Orient House Closing
Ami Isseroff
Rehovot
Orient House Closing [May 10] - After negotiations for a compromise solution broke down, the Israeli government announced that closure orders will be issued against three offices of the Palestine National Authority in the Orient House in East Jerusalem. The Palestine National Authority is expected to fight the orders by appealing to the Israeli Supreme Court, possibly delaying closure until after the Israeli elections. Key issues:
Orient House has been used by the PNA and PLO for many years, both prior to and following the Oslo agreements for meetings with foreign officials.
Israeli officials claim that diplomatic and other activities in the Orient house are intended to undermine Israeli claims of sovereignty in Jerusalem.
PNA claims are based on a letter from Shimon Peres accompanying the Declaration of Principles (DOP) of the Oslo agreements in 1993. The letter guaranteed continued non-interference in Palestinian religious and social institutions.
Prior to the 1996 elections, Benjamin Nethanyahu and his Likud party made an issue of Jerusalem. The campaign was based on the false claim that the then secret letter from Shimon Peres promissed Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem, and used the slogan 'Peres will divide Jerusalem.' After the elections, Likud party leaders admitted they were 'mistaken' and Ehud Uhlmert, now Mayor of Jerusalem, apologized to Shimon Peres.
In the 1996 campaign, Nethanyahu also attacked the Labor government for allowing Orient House offices of Feisal Husseini to continue their activities, and vowed to close the Orient House.
A recent report by Israeli General Security Service ('Shabak') chief Ami Ayalon indicated that Orient House diplomatic activities were, if anything, more intense then at any previous time. The embarrassing report may have been one reason for the closure move.
Closing Orient House will weaken Feisal Husseini, one of the last representatives of the local Palestinian leadership still active in the PNA, and will probably strengthen the imported 'PLO-Tunis' leadership.
Israeli opposition leaders claimed that the closure orders were intended to generate a violent reaction, which might help bolster Nethanyahu's election campaign, after polls showed him slipping badly.
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