Kerry didn't like Obama's Jeffrey Goldberg interview either
According to NRG/Maariv, Kerry’s associates said that Obama’s comments sabotaged Kerry’s efforts to secure peace between Israel and the PA.
Two sources, one in Washington and one in Jerusalem, told the Israeli daily that the White House did not inform Kerry in advance that the interview was taking place.
"Obama’s interview, done without Kerry’s knowledge and which personally attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, undermines Kerry’s efforts," said one source.
The second source said, "Kerry's greatest fear is that the interview hurt the confidence of Netanyahu and the Israeli public opinion in the U.S. government efforts to secure peace."
Goldberg himself was quoted by NRG/Maariv as having explained that the interview was probably an attempt to show Abbas, who has expressed anger that Kerry’s framework is biased in favor of Israel, that Obama is also pressuring Netanyahu. Obama plans to place similar pressure on Abbas when he visits the White House on March 17, said Goldberg.Jonathan Tobin called this a couple of days ago.
By abusing Netanyahu even though he knows the Israelis have agreed to the peace framework, Obama vented his spleen at what is obviously his least favorite foreign leader. But rather than cheering his scolding of Netanyahu those who claim to be “pro-peace and pro-Israel” ought to be gravely concerned.
Unfortunately, the audience for the Goldberg interview was wider than the membership of AIPAC or the Israeli Cabinet. The Palestinians were also listening and what they heard will constitute a far greater impediment to peace than settlements or the Israeli prime minister.
By speaking in this manner at this particular time, the president made it clear that his administration doesn’t care what the Israelis or the Palestinians actually do in the talks. He will take sides against Netanyahu and for Abbas no matter what the Israelis say or how the Palestinians continue to obstruct the process. It tells the Palestinians they need not fear American pressure either at this stage of the talks or if they ever get close to final status discussions.
That’s a catastrophe for the peace processers because they know that the real pressure for peace on Netanyahu doesn’t come from the White House. It stems from the desire of his people for an end to the conflict. Should there ever be a credible peace offer from the Palestinians that pledges them to recognize Israel’s legitimacy and respects Israeli security and sovereignty, Netanyahu knows that no government could turn it down.
But in contrast to the Israelis, there is no Palestinian peace camp or faction within either Abbas’ Fatah or his Hamas rivals that will push for peace even if it doesn’t grant their maximal demands. The only possible source of pressure on Abbas to do make peace must come from the U.S., Europe and the Arab States. But if President Obama is not willing to hold Abbas accountable for his behavior, then no one will. In the absence of an American determination to hold Abbas’ feet to the fire in spite of the enormous Palestinian constituency that will always oppose even the most generous Israeli offer, the already slim prospects for peace are altogether extinguished.
By attacking Netanyahu and lauding Abbas, the president has accomplished something that no Israeli right-winger could possibly accomplish: kill the peace process. Without American insisting that Abbas change his ways, there is no possible way for him to withstand the far greater pressure he gets from the descendants of the 1948 refugees — who still dream of flooding Israel and turning it into another Arab state — or his Islamist rivals.Indeed.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Jeffrey Goldberg, John Kerry, Middle East peace process
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:19 AM
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