The talks, this week, between President Barack Obama and Israel\’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are doomed to failure.
Here is why, courtesy of the following excerpts from David Horovitz\’s article at The Times Of Israel:
Hello,Mr. Prime Minister. You\’re attempting to maintain “a chronicsituation” as regards the Palestinians. You\’ve been pursuing”more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple yearsthan we\’ve seen in a very long time.” There\’ll come a point,you know, “where you can\’t manage this anymore, and then youstart having to make very difficult choices: Do you resign yourselfto what amounts to a permanent occupation of the West Bank?… Do youperpetuate, over the course of a decade or two decades, more and morerestrictive policies in terms of Palestinian movement? Do you placerestrictions on Arab-Israelis in ways that run counter to Israel\’straditions?” But other than that, Mr. Prime Minister, welcome tothe White House.
Untilhe read the breaking news of President Obama\’searth-shattering interview with Bloomberg\’s Jeffrey Goldberg onSunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have anticipated thatMonday\’s meeting was going to be one of his less confrontationaland unpleasant sessions of frank, allied diplomacy with his goodfriend Barack.
Butthen came that bombshell Bloomberg battering.
Thetiming could not have been any more deliberate – an assault on theprime minister\’s policies delivered precisely as Netanyahu wasflying in to meet with him, and on the first day, too, of thepro-Israel lobby AIPAC\’s annual tour de force conference acrosstown.
Atthe very least, that might be considered bad manners, poor diplomaticprotocol, a resounding preemptive slap in the face:…moresubstantively, the president\’s comments reinforce years ofgrievance that have accumulated in Netanyahu\’s circles and somedistance beyond, to the effect that the president ignores theinconsistencies, duplicities and worse of the Palestinian Authorityand its leader Mahmoud Abbas, while placing exaggerated blame for thefailure of peace efforts at the door of the Israeli government.
…one thing is certain, the president\’s resort to a newspaperinterview on the eve of their talks to issue near-apocalypticwarnings about the disaster Netanyahu risks bringing upon Israel isjust about the last thing likely to bolster the prime minister\’sconfidence in their alliance, and just about the last thing likely toencourage Netanyahu to further alienate his hawkish home base bytaking steps such as halting building outside the settlement blocs.
Itwill be particularly interesting now to see what platitudes the paircan manage when they invite in the press for the traditional, briefQ&A session at the White House on Monday. Doubtless they\’llcome up with something. But the fact is that Obama chose to have hisreal say about Netanyahu before the prime minister had arrived, andit constituted a brutal political assault. Other than that, Mr. PrimeMinister, how are you enjoying Washington, DC?
After reading Mr. Horovitz\’s piece, the reason these talks are doomed should be plain to see:
-Barack Obama does not like Israel,
-Barack Obama does not like Benjamin Netanyahu,
-and while it is hard to determine whether Mr. Obama has any particular affinity for Palestinian Arabs, he is perfectly willing to use them against Israel – even if it would endanger the country; a fact that does not bother him at all, as seen in his give-away-the-store “deal” with Iran which, as most people now realize, will help this terrorist-supporting state to go forward with its avowed objective of wiping Israel off the face of the map.
Yes, I know that Mr. Obama has said, repeatedly, that he understands there is an unbreakable bond between the USA and Israel.
But he has also said that if you like your current health care insurance you can keep it. And your doctor too.
I rest my case.
