OBAMA IS DESPERATE TO KEEP PEACE TALKS GOING,
FOR 2 MORE MONTHS IN HIS DIPLOMATIC DIALOG,
SO HE CAN SAY HIS FOREIGN POLICY IS SOUND,
BUT JEWISH MAJORITY NOW KNOWS OBAMA
PROMISES AREN’T WORTH A PLUG NICKEL.
BARRY RUBIN GIVES STRAIGHT SKINNY!
October 4, 2010
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
PLEASE SEE OUR BLOG: “THERE IS NO QUESTION OBAMA WOULD” IN OUR BLOG ARCHIVES ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2010.
Begin 3 Excerpts from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs/Daily Alert
Begin Excerpt 1 from the Jerusalem Post
U.S. Assurances and the Settlement Freeze
Barry Rubin
(Jerusalem Post)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t continue the freeze because there isn’t enough support in h is
coalition for doing so. Minor U.S. offers won’t change that fact. Moreover, the main underlying problem is lack of confidence that the Palestinian Authority wants peace, is willing to compromise or
will implement future commitments.
Consider: Why ask for a two-month extension on the freeze
? Why not three or four? What is happening within two months? The U.S. election.
According to the draft letter, the U.S. agrees to support measures to prevent the smuggling of weapons and terrorists into Israel after a Palestinian state is established.
This is interpreted as allowing Israeli forces to stay in the Jordan Valley for several years. But Israel knows that the PA would never agree.
Moreover, this would set up a situation in which an isolated Israeli force would be subject to attack by terrorists, and international condemnation when it had to intercept or kill them.
The letter promises the U.S. government would veto any UN Security Council resolution against Israel for the next year. This is insulting and signals to Israeli leaders that the current administration isn’t exactly reliable.
It suggests that after the year is over Washington will not veto such resolutions.
Finally, the U.S. pledges to sell more weapons to Israel after a peace agreement and the creation of a Palestinian state. Suggesting that this would happen if construction is frozen for two months simultaneously suggests that it won’t happen otherwise, withdrawing something Israel was previously expecting.
According to the media, Netanyahu politely pointed out that when the U.S. originally demanded the freeze, it promised that it would secure concessions from Arab states. This didn’t happen. It also promised that the Palestinians would be responsive and fulfill their commitments. That didn’t happen either.
The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center and editor of Middle East Review of International Affairs and Turkish Studies.
Begin Excerpt 2 from the Jerusalem Post
Israel Weighs Response to U.S. Offer
Gil Hoffman
Prime Minister Netanyahu began efforts to persuade cabinet members to support a deal with the U.S. in which Israel would limit construction in settlements for 60 days in return for American promises, including upgrading the IDF, letting the army remain in the Jordan Valley following an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, and a promise not to ask Israel for a further mora
torium. However, after a number of ministers publicly expressed opposition to restarting the construction freeze, Netanyahu has little to no chance of passing such a proposal in the cabinet.
A strong majority of Israelis support continuing West Bank construction, a Dahaf Institute poll broadcast on Channel 2 on Sunday found.
54% said the government should be building in the West Bank and only 39% support a further moratorium. (Jerusalem Post)
Begin Excerpt 3 from AFP
Half of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government opposes the extension of a settlement moratorium, a poll in Yediot Ahronot showed on Monday. According to the poll, 15 of the 30 ministers in the cabinet are opposed to any extension of the partial freeze. 8 said they would back such a move, with the remaining 7 undecided. The survey also showed that 8 of the 15 members of the security cabinet were against any move to halt West Bank construction, with 4 in favor and 3 undecided. And among members of the inner cabinet, the Forum of Seven, 4 were against and 3 in favor. (AFP)
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