Israel Matzav

Clinton to revenants: Practice celibacy

In some of the clearest language the Obama administration has used against Israel to date, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told al-Jazeera on Wednesday night that all 'settlement growth' must stop.

"We want to see a stop to settlement construction, additions, natural growth - any kind of settlement activity," declared Clinton in some of the Obama administration's clearest comments to date on what it expects from Israel. She was speaking to Al-Jazeera in an interview, of which the State Department released a transcript on Wednesday.

Netanyahu indicated on Tuesday that the settlement issue was still under review and that its details still had to be worked out with the administration.

Senior officials in Netanyahu's office said the exact terms of a freeze would have to be worked out, since there had been a number of unwritten understandings on this matter with the previous administration.

For instance, Israel has been working on the assumption that, with tacit agreement from the US, it may build inside the lines of existing settlements in the large settlement blocs that it believes it will retain under any future diplomatic agreement.

It was telling that during his two-day visit to Washington, which concluded on Tuesday, Netanyahu made no commitments on settlements, despite the primacy the Obama administration has placed on the issue.

According to former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, writing on The Daily Beast Web site, "Netanyahu was completely silent on the settlements freeze in public; in private, I'm told, he said it would be difficult to do."

In a conference call with US Jewish leaders following Netanyahu's meeting with Obama on Monday, a senior White House official said the administration was still waiting for a reply from Israel on settlements.

"This is the focus of the early step they are looking for" from Israel on the Palestinian front, said one Jewish official on the call, adding that the White House had indicated it was looking for a response soon.

"The fact that they were suggesting there was some kind of time frame in the near future suggested that this is a form of pressure on Israel to come back with something," he said, though he also said that "they're not at the point" of imposing consequences should Israel fail to comply with the administration's demands for a freeze.

This sounds like more than posturing for an Israeli response. And this administration doesn't seem to think it is bound by Bush administration commitments to Israel even though it believes that Israel is bound by Olmert's commitments to the 'road map' and Annapolis.

Those of you revenants in Judea and Samaria who wish to obey Hillary's commands should practice celibacy - how else can we stop 'natural growth of the settlements'?

Come to think of it, in White House parlance, I'm a 'settler' too....

Heh.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:16 AM