The Obama Administration is still trying to get Israel and the 'Palestinians' to resume direct talks, but the insurmountable problem is the building freeze the 'Palestinians' insist on. And unfortunately, that's a problem of Obama's making.
Neither the 'Palestinians' or the Israelis had ever considered a building freeze as a deal breaker for negotiations until Obama coerced Israel into a unilateral 10-month freeze on construction as a carrot for Abbas. At this point, the 'Palestinians' feel that they're entitled to it continuing indefinitely.
And why not? It serves them tactically. The 'Palestinians' are continuing to build erratically all over Judea and Samaria and in East Jerusalem with no regard for zoning laws or planning considerations and no one has ever accused them of 'trying to change facts on the ground by building in disputed territory.' In fact, the EU and USAid are actually bankrolling many of the projects, including the new city of Rawabi, which is deliberately being built in a primarily Jewish area and will actually encroach on the Israeli town of Ateret.
The latest word is that Netanyahu is apparently taking Obama's latest proposal to the cabinet. In exchange for a sixty day extension on the freeze,Obama has reportedly given the Israelis a number of incentives.
They include a few military sales, along with Barack Obama apparently agreeing to veto any UN Security Council resolutions concerning Israel and a 'Palestinian' state for a period of one year.
Obama reportedly also pledged to accept an IDF presence in the Jordan Valley to prevent the smuggling of rockets, mortars, arms, and the infiltration of terrorists into Israel.
It's a poor deal for Israel if that's all that's in it. It essentially puts a gun to Israel's head. If the Israelis refuse any of the 'Palestinian' demands and a deal doesn't happen in a year, the 'Palestinians' could simply pocket whatever concessions they get out of the Israelis and then go to the UN for the rest in a resolution granting them statehood - which Obama would see to it that the US did not veto.
The 'Palestinians' would have every advantage to simply stonewall for a year until they can go to the UN.
There's also no reason to expect the 'Palestinians' to go along with Obama's assurances to Israel about the Jordan Valley - or really anything else.
"Neither side trusts the other side, and neither side is convinced they understand what the other's bottom line is," one senior U.S. official is quoted as having said.
Neither side trusts President Obama either, especially the Israelis - and with good reason.
5 comments:
strange.
all this foreign policy juxtapositioning, and not a single mention of secretary of state klebb.
strange.
I don't get the reference, If you're talking about Hilary, she's been involved basically as Obama's messenger girl.
As a matter of fact, she just got back from yet another unsuccessful attempt by Obama to kiss up to Syria.
As I've stated before, America has MASSIVE problems right now. a resolution to the Arab/Israeli problem even if it could be achieved does absolutely nothing to solve any of them. In fact, working on this issue right now may only make these problems worse. You see precious resources are being diverted away from addressing the real issues that plague Americans right now.
Not only does solving the Israeli/Arab problem do nothing to solve any of the problems plaguing America right now, valuable resources are being spent on this issue and the United States has no real influence over either of the parties involved.
To sum this up, valuable resources are being spent trying to solve a problem that does nothing to solve our problems and we have no control over the "actors" in the conflict!! This is absolutely nuts on the part of the American government!! With judgement like this it should come as no surprise that the American government is wildly unpopular both here and elsewhere in the world!!
Why is Mrs. Clinton spending time on this as Mr. Obama's "messenger girl?" I thought the Clintons were smart political actors. Smart political actors don't waste time and energy on things they can't control. Maybe the main stream media told me how smart the Clintons are and I bought into it.
Finally, while the actions of the Israelis and the Palestinians may affect us, there is little to nothing we can do to effect the process. When faced with such a situation where he/she could conceivablely get hurt and he/she has no control over the situation, a prudent business person acts to extricate themselves from that situation AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!
The best course of action at this time would be for America to get out of Israel's way. This would make it far easier for Israel to handle this problem. When Israel does they will have not only eliminated an enemy of theirs but they will have eliminated an enemy of America as well.
Even in the unlikey event Israel fails or is not entirely successful, at least our brave warriors and other military assets will have been redeployed to our borders. At least this way we will have a fighting chance to defend our country.
November 2012 stands for real hope & change !
--dragon/dinosaur
I think louielouie means this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Klebb. That's worth a smirk.
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