The last time I allowed myself to feel any sense of optimism about a peaceful resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict was during the Camp David talks in 2000. Being pessimistic isn’t the same thing as having no hope, however, and I’ve been hopeful that something might come from the current negotiations. With Netanyahu reneging on the fourth and final prisoner release, my hopefulness is receding.
With the talks teetering on the brink of collapse, Washington has been fighting an uphill battle to coax the two sides into accepting a framework proposal which would extend the negotiations beyond April to the end of the year.
But the matter has become tied up with the fate of 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners whom Israel was to have freed this weekend under terms of an agreement which brought about a resumption of talks.
Israel on Friday informed the Palestinians via a US mediator that it would not release the fourth and final batch of prisoners, with the US State Department confirming it was working “intensively” to resolve the dispute.
The Palestinians say they will not even consider extending the talks without the prisoners being freed, but Israel has refused to release them without a Palestinian commitment to continue the talks, prompting a fresh crisis of confidence between the parties.
I am having some trouble figuring out if this indicates that Netanyahu is prepared to let the talks collapse or if it is being driven by his inability to hold his coalition together.
In other words, is this a concerted strategy or the absence of any strategy at all?
The sooner Bibi exposes his charade for what it is, the sooner we will move toward real policies that bring peace. And that requires the US as a matter of policy to call apartheid what it is and stop squandering $3 billion a year in the hopes of buying a decision.
My sense and hope is this. US winds down the nuclear nonsense talks with Iran in spite of the warhawks. The US, Russia, and Syria figure a way to end the civil war in Syria; hint, Assad’s removal cannot be a precondition as reconciliation of Assad’s power is necessary to eliminate the foreign fighters from Syria. A failure of neo-con policy makes this so.
Normalization of relations with Iran means that Iran is no longer a “threat” in the Persian Gulf. There is no excuse for high levels of military aid to Israel or Saudi Arabia; in fact Saudi support of Egypt’s al-Sisi makes the those two the new destablizers in the region.
And Israel’s policy with respect to the 1967 borders is what makes Israel vulnerable. The first move is to end the economic blockade on Gaza and effectively Palestine so that Palestine’s economy can begin to grow. The second move is for the US to sign the Rome Treaty for the US Criminal Court and be ready to honor its provisions for US personnel. The third is to stop being the UN Security Council cover for Israel on every issue.
My hope fails not with the negotiations but will the willingness of the US to actually seek a peace agreement.
I still can never follow your logic, hope, whatever you want to call it, wrt this issue. Any other thing even when I disagree I can be like, “Oh, well I disagree but I understand where you’re coming from and you have fair points.”
This? I can’t. Netanyahu is doing the same thing every other PM has done since the creation of Israel: build more settlements, expand Israel’s (unestablished) borders, spit in the world community’s face (especially ours), pretend to be interested in peace only to offer a deal no self-respecting Palestinian would accept, and then bomb, bomb, and bomb some more their neighbors.
I should amend that statement. Netanyahu isn’t doing the same thing every other PM has done. He’s doing it with far more audacity and boldness, almost daring the US to do anything about it. Which we won’t.
To add insult to injury, the US vetoes everything with regard to Israel at the UN. Are they there to back us up when we need their help? Fuck no:
Vote by U.N. General Assembly Isolates Russia
Among the members that did not vote were Iran, Lebanon and Israel.
What is there to be hopeful about? The only thing to be hopeful about is for the state to wither away with its increasing isolation.
Ok, this is hilarious:
Chris Christie apologizes for `occupied territories’ remark
“Oops, did I inadvertently say something true? I’ve been under a lot of stress! Won’t happen again, I promise!”
See also:
Netanyahu Makes Common Cause With European Anti-Semites
Anti-semitism isn’t a problem for Israel. They’re besties with the Saudi regime, and they made peace with Nazi Anwar Sadat. This just continues that tried and true tradition.
Just providing that little extra encouragement for Ukrainian Jews to come home to Israel. Plenty of room there in Masada Towers.
This is an interesting piece.
Announced another 2300 settlement units last week too. The purpose is always to avoid an agreement with Palestinians by any means necessary while pretending to cooperate with the US, and sustain a status quo he knows to be unsustainable as long as he’s alive to profit from it, like those who despoil Indonesia’s forests and burn Saudi oil as if there could be no tomorrow. He is really Israel’s Louis XV (après moi le déluge).
What does he have to lose? If he lets the talks collapse, he can blame it on the palestinians wanting him to release prisoners. Even though prisoner releases are going to have to be a key component in moving forward, the average Israeli or American doesn’t understand that, and will sympathize with Netenyahu, because releasing bad guys is always bad.
Since there is no real strategy for Netanyahu – his goal is just to perpetuate his own position as long as possible, and he has no ability to survive politically in a peaceful scenario – this suits him just fine.
This has been going on for years, so I don’t see why it would be puzzling. Netenyahu is an obstructionist with no long term vision. This is exactly what I’d expect him to do. one step forward, one step back. Treading water. He is keeping his career alive, and nothing else.
I don’t agree with your first paragraph, but I do agree with the rest of your comment.
Sure, this is Netanyahu’s “strategy”, same as the old one. I understand that, but so does everybody else involved. It’s getting kind of old.
The real question is whether he is truly in control any more. I don’t know, but I do think he is facing more genuine pressure from the US and — not unconnected with that — from his domestic political enemies than has usually been the case. We will know as we see how this develops. Is he cornered or will he successfully weasel out once again?
It seems to me that Bibi doesn’t have any cover anymore; he is being shown to be exactly what and who he is.
Maybe it’s naive of me, but I think it’s possible that after the 2014 elections Obama is going to get seriously tough with Bibi.
Barack Obama likes to bring public opinion along so that by the time he publicly stakes out what would have previously been a seriously unpopular position… it seems so obvious that people wonder why he didn’t do it sooner. (see gay marriage)
You have to work very hard at this point to continue to believe that Israel is the good guy here and that Palestine is the bad guy. Israel is the biggest threat to the future of Israel, at this point, and I believe Obama made a public statement to that effect within the last few months, at least if you are willing to read between the lines.
Those who think Obama is weak are a very poor judge of character. Biden is right when he says Obama has a spine of steel – Onion Joe Biden would probably say balls of steel – and I believe our president is getting seriously tired of Bibi’s games.
Hopeful me believes that Obama is giving Bibi enough rope so that he can be clearly seen as the obstructionist he is, and then be willing to pull the rug out from underneath Israel if Bibi continues to block any chance of real peace. I dare Bibi to try to call Obama’s bluff, because I don’t think he will like the result.
Feel free to mock me if you wish, but I remain hopeful.
I think you are on the right track. Obama knows that the Zionist lobby is too well entrenched wrt Congress for Obama to get too out of line. Early on, he carefully calibrated the reactions to his Cairo speech and the reaction to Chas Freeman’s potential appointment. As you said, he announces his goal and then holds back as the debate rages and the public mind matures until the time is ripe and he brings it up again and viola, fait accompli.
The magic is in the exposure. I’ve been following Obama with an understanding that you point to. He just plays things by the book. The Art of War by Sun Tzu. The Syrian redline chemo WMDs incident is instructive. Did he originate the ‘redline’ idea? I doubt it. I’d wager that he was handed that line. And when the false flag gas attack unfolded in August, it didn’t make ANY sense to me that he was being so hard assed about it. But the people awoke a little from their slumbers and the lobby got exposed more than ever.
From The Art of War…..
Thus the highest form of generalship is to
balk the enemy’s plans…..
Even assuming you’re right (and Dems will be screaming at him about the effect on their 2016 chances if he does) what can he do when Congress is opposed?
It should be noted that in a Gallup Poll conducted two weeks ago, 44% of Americans saw Israel as an Ally and a further 35% as a friendly country but not an ally. Unfriendly and enemy were 10 and 4% respectively. And that’s in the abstract, if you force a choice between Israel and the Palestinians (66% unfavorable to the PA) who do you think the American people will favor?
And that’s in the abstract, if you force a choice between Israel and the Palestinians (66% unfavorable to the PA) who do you think the American people will favor?
And how long has the TradMed in this country been filled with anti-Palestinian bullcrap?
That can’t answer for all of it. The BBC is certainly no friend of the Palestinians, yet the British do not see this conflict the same way Americans do. The media isn’t enough.
Example:
Its not bull crap, not really, but that the media skip over Israeli bull crap.