On Obama, Israel as a Red State, and the New York Times……….
“Diplomacy 101. The Israelis have refused to stop all building. The Palestinians say that they won’t talk to the Israelis until they do, and President Mahmoud Abbas is so despondent he has threatened to quit. Arab states are refusing to do anything. Mr. Obama’s own credibility is so diminished (his approval rating in Israel is 4 percent) that serious negotiations may be farther off than ever. Peacemaking takes strategic skill. But we see no sign that President Obama and Mr. Mitchell were thinking more than one move down the board. The president went public with his demand for a full freeze on settlements before securing Israel’s commitment. And he and his aides apparently had no plan for what they would do if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no. Most important, they allowed the controversy to obscure the real goal: nudging Israel and the Palestinians into peace talks. (We don’t know exactly what happened but we are told that Mr. Obama relied more on the judgment of his political advisers — specifically his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel — than of his Mideast specialists.)…..…..” New York Times
The N Y Times is too bashful to come out and say it openly: It is the settlements, stupid!
The editors of the Times must know there is no fight left in the Arab regimes, and that includes the PA in Ramallah. The Arab oligarchs are nearly irrelevant now, for all the posturing. They want any settlement that closes this chapter for them, the Palestine chapter. They just want to save some face, or pretend that they are saving some face.
Netanyahu and Lieberman (Avigdor Lieberman the extreme right-wing Israeli foreign minister, not Joe Lieberman the plain right-wing US senator) will not play. Netanyahu is trapped by his coalition partners who want it all.
As for Obama’s popularity in Israel being around 4%, what did they expect at the Times? Most Israelis are not your typical New Yorkers over there; in fact almost none of them are, even the ones who go from New York itself. A big portion of Israeli “public” comes from Eastern Europe nowadays, just like the birther Orly Taitz, and they are very likely racists to their marrow. Israel was the only country where McCain was more popular than Obama in 2008. And I don’t think that was because they were worried about his health care proposals: they have an even more “socialistic” system. Just like every country in all of Europe. Other than that, Israel is a very Red State in many ways.
Cheers
mhg
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