Israel and the Arabs agree: It's just a nuisance
Reviewing the Wikileaks cables, Aluf Benn castigates the United States as an empire in decline. Although he argues that the cables from the Bush administration are equally as weak as those from the Obama administration, I don't believe anyone would have referred to America 'in decline' before January 20, 2009.But it's Benn's biting assessment of where the 'Palestinians' stand in the World's eyes that is most striking about this article, especially because Benn is a committed Leftist who shares Obama's 'fierce moral urgency' to create a 'Palestinian state.' You will recall that in the summer of 2009, Benn begged Obama to come here via a piece in the New York Times so that Israelis would learn to trust him. As of this past spring, Benn continued to believe that Obama needed to endear himself to Israelis.
Even Aluf Benn understands now that no one cares about the 'Palestinians.' No one except Israel's and the Democratic party's Far Left.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first world leader to leverage the WikiLeaks revelations for his own purposes. At a press conference on Monday, Netanyahu used the leaked cables to trash Obama's position and advance the agenda of "Iran first." The cables prove, he said, that there's no truth in the narrative that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the greatest threat to the region and its future.Indeed.
The doublespeak of the Arab leaders, who publicly attack Israel while warning against Iran in closed forums, helps the prime minister repulse the American administration's claim that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes precedence. It provides confirmation of Israel's assertion, which the West has disbelieved for years, that the Palestinians aren't important.
The Arab leaders didn't ignore the Palestinians. They raised this issue over and over in their talks with American representatives. But the Egyptians and the Gulf emirates share their Israeli counterparts' view of the conflict as a nuisance that must be managed, not a problem that can be solved.
None of them fantasized about a Palestinian state, about freedom and independence for Gaza and Nablus. All they wanted was to get this annoying nuisance off their backs, and they didn't care how. They viewed Obama as a pest and his envoys as bothers, not as spokesmen for the global superpower. Or perhaps that's no longer what America is.
But one thing has changed. There is no chance Israelis will trust Obama's assessment of the 'Palestinian' issue again. He's finished here.
Labels: Aluf Benn, Barack Obama, linkage, Wikileaks
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:42 AM
3 Comments:
I don't think Obama cares anymore what Israel thinks of him. he is going to support the unilateral creation of the Palestine state in the UN and has no delusions that Jews will hate him for it. The fact that Israel has proof that he is caustic has Obama's loyalists laughing. They feel that these feelings already were out in the open. Israel's enemies were smirking and now they are going to kick sand.
Yup. The "linkage" that Obama used as leverage to wrest Israeli concessions in exchange for Israel is dead. After all, the WL revelations show the Arabs if anything, were even more insistent than Israel that the US take on Iran and nowhere did they link it to a resolution of the Palestinian problem.
And with the damage control the US is now engaged in, the pressure on Israel to commit to another revanant freeze has been lifted. Obama may want to see a Palestinian state but bottom line its not going to happen in his lifetime or yours or mine.
You can take that to the bank. Heh
I've said it before. Israel needs to tell Obama "no". Its pretty clear that Obama and his minions are wrong, on almost all possible counts, in foreign policy, in economics, ...
But Israel also needs to be fully self sufficient, specifically with regards to advanced weaponry and materiel supplies. You can't just say no and then ask for more bullets. Obama will use that as leverage. So you have to make your own. Bullets, aircraft, all manner of weaponry.
But the 'palis' issue is now over. Its time to point to the documents, make sure that the world understands that no one cares, and strongly suggest to the UN that they stop their posturing, defund the UNRWA, and spend all that money with the commission for refugees to resettle the 'refugees'.
Its way past time to stop the pretense, and put this particular issue to rest. The UN and the world have been grossly unfair to the 'palis' in not helping them solve their problem, rather with perpetuating it. This needs to be brought to the forefront of the worlds attention. Then the UN needs to be taken to task for its failures, and a way forward demonstrated.
Win over the fair minded, ignore the antisemites and other haters. Eventually you will win.
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