US 'warns' Israel on Jerusalem
On Wednesday, I reported that Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said that Israel would raze illegal buildings in 'east' Jerusalem. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, I updated that post to report that the US had issued a 'stern warning' over Aharonvitch's remarks. But there's more to it than that: They also issued a 'warning' to Aharonovitch's boss. After comments by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Jerusalem Day that Israel would “prioritize” building to the city, and a declaration by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch that Israel would continue to demolish illegally built Arab structures in the city, the State Department issued a warning against “inflammatory actions” in Jerusalem.If only we were building in Jerusalem and not just talking about it.
“Our policy on Jerusalem remains unchanged. The status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in permanent status negotiations between the parties. This underlines the importance of making progress in the proximity talks to enable the parties to move to direct negotiations that will resolve this and other issues once and for all," the statement said. “As we have said, if either side takes significant actions during the proximity talks that we judge would seriously undermine trust, we will respond by holding them accountable and ensure that negotiations continue,” it added.
UPDATE FRIDAY 12:58 AM
Surprise. Israel has postponed the demolitions.
A report on Army Radio Thursday morning quoted Israeli security officials as saying that Israel had decided to hold off on demolishing illegally built Arab structures in Jerusalem, after the United States requested "clarifications" on comments by Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich that orders to carry out the demolitions would be carried out. The report quoted the sources as saying that the orders would not be cancelled, but that they would not be carried out "in order not to damage the indirect negotiations" between Israel and the PA.My guess is that this is all a fake and that Israel never intended to demolish those buildings in the first place.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:58 PM
4 Comments:
"If only we were building in Jerusalem and not just talking about it."
If only
we had "real friends" who actually put words to action!!
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20498788&postID=3623072922638284027
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20498788&postID=9053371126403202110
If only we would be celebrating not wondering how many tomorrows we have.
Thanks of course to our friends.
If only they would talk to Iran that way.Why do i get the feeling that Israel is the US their enemy?
Friends. The word is, sadly, loaded. Is Israel a friend of the US? Yes, in terms of public opinion. Obama is therefore attenuated in terms of his actions he might take against Israel. After much vacillation on whether Obama is an anti-semite, I don't think he is; but he's stupid and fails to think things out.
Netanyahu's(and, interestingly, Obama) worry here is not the 3 billion aid package that anti-semites constantly taunt Israel with... be good or else....
Israel is the second largest country with Nasdaq-listed companies. There is a huge amount of research and collaboration in defense and tech-related joint work at play. To throw Israel to the dogs would only cost American jobs. I believe this is a fact.
I'll give you one small, tangential side of this "aid" between Israel and the US. I live in a place called Conway, Arkansas, a town of about 50,000. My wife and son are Jewish, and I'm half Jewish. So, there's about 4.5 Jews out of 50,0000 with no discernible ties to the Jewish state(outside of the respect and love towards Israel from the Southern Baptists). But I was wrong. We make tens of thousands of school buses here in Conway. I recently saw one being test driven with Hebrew lettering. The head of the company is a patient of mine and explained that some of the aid package is a form of welfare(but reverse welfare)wherein Israel "agrees" to use some of her aid for busses.
So, Obama can threaten, but I suspect he has very little he can or will do(until his second term that is)vis-a-vis hurting Israel. So the US-Israeli relationship is highly positive for both the US and Israel. Israeli brainpower working in the US is another dimension.
Sadly, I don't think Bibi has thought this through. Obama's "good will" displayed recently to Israel in terms of bunker busters, dropping in on Barak, dinner with Weasel, ect... is all part of Obama realizing his stance on Israel is costing democrats votes, potentially hurting the US economically at a sensitive time.
If he were to cut ties with Israel, cut military aid, limit economic ties, just how many US jobs would be lost? Bottom line: Obama is a paper tiger until the start of his second term when all bets are off. Bibi should stand strong on Jerusalem now: he fails to understand the US position(which is strange considering his American ties).
As for friends. Israel has millions of friends around the world; sadly, not too many governments. I know for a fact that most Italians, or many in my experience, are pro-Israel as are many Christians, and, interestingly, many, many Mexicans as well.
Nonmatter, Israel has more friends than you think. Problem is, the anti-semities are louder.
But they will demolish Beit Yohanan. Its kosher to go after the Jews and the State Department will raise no objections to such a move.
What could go wrong indeed
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