Post-Joe (day 4)
March 12, 2010, 11:01 am
Posted by Margaret O'Brien Steinfels
For those who are confused or concerned or feeling timid about VP Biden’s experiences in Israel, here is what the U.S. Jewish Daily Forward has to say in an editorial: “There were the expected handshakes and bear hugs, the slaps on the back and supportive words amiably expressed before the media. Just what ought to happen when Israel welcomes the vice president of the United States, the second in command of its greatest ally and the highest-ranking official of a still-new administration to visit Jerusalem.
“Then, dafka, the proverbial stab in the back.” http://forward.com/articles/126573/
I think what follows Margaret’s snip above is extremely important:
…… In any case, this is no way to treat a guest. The timing and the substance of the announcement left Biden in a terrible spot, forced to condemn his host’s behavior even as he was trying to launch a new round of indirect negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
As Americans, we feel insulted. Contrary to the spin generated in some quarters, the Obama administration has gone out of its way to support Israel and the Netanyahu government. As the Forward has reported, cooperation between the two nations is flourishing — the Obama administration has worked hard to bolster Israel’s qualitative military edge, which had eroded during the final year of the presidency of George W. Bush. America continues to do the heavy lifting required to fend off unfair criticism of Israel in unfriendly venues. ……
The report also criticizes Netanyahu, somewhat obliquely. He is a difficult personality whose various administrations have not often lent themselves to seeking peace in the region.
It was my understanding that the Palestinian population together with the Israelis who want to negotiate with the other Palestinians consitute a majority. So how can Shas lead Netanyahu around by the nose like that?
Netanyahu is not being led around by anyone. He really does not believe in the “two state” solution, which has been the basis for peace negotiations since at least the Camp David Accords in the 1970s.
He only grudgingly accepted the idea of a separate Palestinian state last June but placed conditions on it that no Palestinian leader could ever accept, such as the Palestinian state had to be completely demilitarized and that it had to allow existing Israeli settlements to expand as their populations grew.
No one should be surprised that Netanyahu’s government supports building 1,600 new homes at the existing Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. He has repeatedly issued statements supporting the expansion of the Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The only “surprise” here is that they announced it during Biden’s visit. Given that Netanyahu favored McCain in the last election, one probably shouldn’t even be surprised that he chose to announce his government’s support for expanding these settlements during Biden’s visit.
Now the West Bank is sealed off again by the israelis due to tensions they provoked.
There is little hope for any peace process in the current Israeli i regime, no matter what the US does.
I fear some further conflgartion in that part of the world soon.