Israel Matzav

'East' Jerusalem is different from the 'West Bank' says... Steny Hoyer

There may be nothing that would more concern the Obama administration than Democrats taking independent positions on issues that are important to the administration. That especially goes for Democrats in leadership positions. In that light, this story takes on added significance. The dispute between Israel and the 'Palestinians' is to the Obama administration's foreign policy as 'Obamacare' is to its domestic policy.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post on Monday, House majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) said that 'east' Jerusalem is different than the 'West Bank settlements.'

US House Majority leader Steny Hoyer praised Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, called for the Palestinian Authority to drop any preconditions to negotiations, and said that Congress differentiated between building in east Jerusalem and in the West Bank, during an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

Hoyer, currently in the country leading a delegation of 29 Democratic legislators, also said the rhetoric coming out of the Fatah General Assembly in Bethlehem was "unfortunate."

...

"I think that kind of pessimism, while perhaps realistic, is not helpful to moving the ball forward," Hoyer said, adding that he viewed the Fatah conference as PA President Mahmoud Abbas's effort to charge up the faithful and reenergize his followers.

Still, Hoyer said he thought "some of the rhetoric was very unfortunate in the sense that it re-instilled a sense of confrontation and resistance, instead of being more positive and talking about what steps were needed to move forward."

Hoyer, who will meet with Abbas on Wednesday, noted that Abbas himself had said recently that the situation in the West Bank was much improved.

"I think that had there been a more positive tone to the conference, it would have been more helpful," he said. "As General Dayton said, it is a political convention. He said it was a 'convention of politicians,' so he didn't put a lot of stock in the words."

At the same time, Hoyer said one of his messages to Abbas would be that he needed to change the rhetoric. Another message would be that he drop preconditions for starting negotiations with the Netanyahu government.

Abbas has said that Israel must freeze settlement construction before he will sit down with the prime minister.

Of course, the reason that Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has taken such an unyielding position on 'settlement construction' is that he is convinced that if he waits, Barack Obama will eventually deliver Israel on a silver platter. Hoyer sidestepped that issue.

Asked if he thought Obama had "gone overboard" on the settlement issue, Hoyer sidestepped, saying it was a mistake to dwell on the settlements and to make settlement construction the key issue, when it was not.

This issue was blown out of proportion because it was an issue where the US and Israel disagreed, he said, and it was natural for the disagreements to attract most of the attention.

Hoyer said that given the changes on the ground since 1967, he believed that most people in the US - including the Obama administration - understood that a return to those boundaries was not realistic. [In other words, while Obama may not agree, the Democrats in Congress agree in essence with the Bush administration position on this issue. CiJ]

According to Hoyer, there was a difference in how Congress viewed the West Bank and Jerusalem; he felt that there was more acceptance of Jewish construction in east Jerusalem than in the settlements in the West Bank. [Note that he does not claim - as the Obama administration does - that Jewish 'settlements' are 'illegal.' CiJ]

"I think there is a significant difference between what we are talking about in the West Bank and Jerusalem itself, which is an integrated city; which is a whole," he said. "My view is that it will remain whole, and therefore - I don't want to anticipate the endgame - but I don't think the partitioning of Jerusalem is a reasonable outcome. I don't think it will happen."

The Obama administration will not be pleased to read that interview. It shows that they have not succeeded in eroding support for Israel in Congress - even among the Democrats. It shows that some Democrats - even in leadership positions - are still thinking for themselves and will not allow the Obama administration to railroad them on Israel and maybe not on other issues. And it shows that as far as even their friends in Congress are concerned, the Obama administration has overplayed its hand against Israel.

All of that is good news for us here in Israel.

Too bad the Post (apparently) didn't ask him about Iran.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:58 AM