Netanyahu told Likud MK's to protest freeze
Remember that late night meeting between Netanyahu and Obama at the White House? The one where there were no photographers and Netanyahu entered and exited like a thief in the night? Remember what we were told afterward: Although the details of Monday night's talks between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama continued to be shrouded in secrecy, speaking to reporters before boarding the plane to Paris from Washington on Tuesday night, the prime minister dismissed suggestions of a tense meeting and said the "importance of the visit will become clear in the future."I believe that's the night that Obama put the screws to Netanyahu over the 'settlement freeze.' And hopefully the quid pro quo is at least some freedom of action on Iran.
Netanyahu certainly did not wake up last week and decide that a 'settlement freeze' was a good idea. Please consider this.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to hold a discussion in the Likud faction meeting on the West Bank settlement building freeze. MK Danny Danon asked that a discussion on the subject be held, but the prime minister said that the issue was already raised when MK Danon was abroad.Is Netanyahu trying to end the freeze early? It sure sounds like it. If the 'Palestinians' don't respond while Israelis protest the 'freeze,' you can bet Netanyahu would like to go back to Obama and tell him that he's not going to torture his own population when the 'freeze' yields no results anyway. And what does that mean for Iran? I suspect that whatever they agreed to about Iran has already been set in motion and cannot be stopped.
Netanyahu said to the members of Knesset, "We are a in a continual struggle over the map of Israel." He also said that he is impressed by the determination of some faction members to continue advocating for settlement in the West Bank. "You have to go out and protest against me. Then we'll finish it early," said Netanyahu to the MKs.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:07 AM
3 Comments:
I think so, too. If resolving Iran doesn't bring about a Palestinian change of heart, the "freeze" may be lifted well before the 10 months are over. If the Palestinians cannot count on Iran to undermine Israel for them, they may finally decide to sue for peace. But that won't happen until Israel shows its going to stick around for good.
BS"D
What I definitely believe is that Bibi was hedging his bets. Re Iran, I imagine there is nothing ibn Barak would like more than to come down hard on Israel for an action and privately do a victory dance in his bedroom that we did some dirty work for him, and he can still castigate us publicly.
I don't believe for one second that Bibi would let Obama in on whatever Israel's strategy towards Iran is going to be. Obama would make sure to "leak" the information to the Iranians and the element of surprise would be lost. I don't believe that the settlement freeze and Iran are connected. Bibi probably told Obama that he would freeze the settlements temporarily knowing full well that it would make not an iota of difference...when have the Palis EVER agreed to negotiate in good faith?
He probably told Obama..."let's try it your way and I will show you that it does not work." Think about it, it is a small political price to pay for Bibi (the paperwork to get the permits to build probably take longer than 10 months given Israel's notorious bureaucracy!) and it squarely shows the complete incompetence of Obama's policies and ideas.
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