[Peace-discuss] USA takes orders from Israel

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Another account from the right-wing Israeli press. --CGE]

	Jan 14, 2009 6:03
	US: Olmert's UN vote story '100% untrue'
	By HERB KEINON AND ALLISON HOFFMAN

Israel and the US engaged in a rare and uncharacteristic public spat Tuesday 
over events leading to the US abstention in last Thursday's UN Security Council 
resolution vote on the Gaza crisis.

Both the State Department and White House spokesmen said that Prime Minister 
Ehud Olmert's claim that he had essentially gotten US President George W. Bush 
to twist Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arm and abstain on the measure 
was simply untrue.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Olmert's story of what happened 
in his conversation with Bush was "just 100 percent, totally, completely not 
true," while White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said "there are 
inaccuracies."

During a speech to local authority heads in Ashkelon on Monday, Olmert said that 
Rice had been embarrassed when she was ordered to back down from supporting the 
resolution she had prepared, after Olmert intervened with Bush.
Olmert said he had called Bush and interrupted a lecture he was giving in 
Philadelphia to ensure that the US not vote for the resolution.

"I said: 'Get me President Bush on the phone,'" Olmert said. "They said he was 
in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care: 'I need 
to talk to him now.' He got off the podium and spoke to me."

According to Olmert, he told Bush that the US should not vote for the 
resolution, and Bush then directed Rice to abstain.

"She was left pretty embarrassed," Olmert said.

McCormack said that Rice had decided as early as Wednesday that she would not 
veto a resolution, after Arab ministers rejected an initial effort by the US to 
push for a weaker presidential statement from the Security Council. That left 
her with the option of either voting for the final text or abstaining.

"So you have two possibilities left: voting for it, or abstaining, and she 
decided, given where the state of the negotiations were in terms of the Mubarak 
initiative, that abstaining would give the best possibility for those 
negotiations to move forward and actually resolve the situation on the ground," 
McCormack said.

He said Rice had spoken with Bush both before and after his conversation with 
Olmert, but insisted "with 100% assurance that her intention, again, going into 
the conversation with the president was that she was going to abstain."

An official in the Prime Minister's Office tersely responded to the comments 
from Washington, saying "the Prime Minister's comments on Monday were a correct 
account of what took place."

The official downplayed the incident, saying it was "over" and would have no 
lasting impact.

The official said he was not aware of any conversation Olmert had had with Rice 
on Tuesday to clarify the matter, or that any messages had been relayed from 
Jerusalem to Washington.

Washington's account of the events, however, seemed to have been indirectly 
confirmed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who was quoted as saying earlier in 
the week that she had held seven "difficult" phone conversations with Rice on 
the day of the vote, and Rice had told her that while the US would not veto the 
resolution, it would abstain.

Rice spent three days in New York shuttling between conference rooms at United 
Nations headquarters, meeting with Arab ministers and her British and French 
counterparts. She said after Thursday's vote that she had abstained because she 
felt a resolution "might have been a little premature."

Israeli officials said it was unlikely that the spat would have any lasting 
impact, primarily because Rice would be leaving office in less than a week.

Olmert's comment, said in an off-the-cuff manner and not read from a text, is 
widely believed to reflect the degree of Israeli disappointment at Rice's 
handling of the Security Council resolution.

Middle East expert Steven Spiegel described the episode as "the worst faux pas 
by an Israeli prime minister in history."

"You really do wonder what the prime minister was thinking - if it's true, you'd 
really want to keep it as quiet as possible, and if it's not true, why would you 
want to make up a story that would embarrass both the Bush administration and 
the Israeli government and draw criticism from those who are antagonistic to 
Israel?" asked Spiegel, director of the Center for Middle East Development at UCLA.

"No matter how you play it, exaggeration, falsehood, whole truth, the whole 
thing makes them all look bad," Spiegel told The Jerusalem Post.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231866576464&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Randall Cotton wrote:
> Bravado? Are you suggesting, Carl, that Olmert is fabricating this quite
> detailed storyline about how he single-handedly induced the President,
> mid-lecture in Philadelphia, to overrule Rice and sabotage the
> effectiveness of the UN cease-fire resolution (allowing Israel to more
> easily dismiss it)? You disregard this too easily, I think. Here's another
> account:
> 
> ***
> 
> The Security Council resolution passed on Friday calling for an immediate
> cease-fire in Gaza was a source of embarrassment for US Secretary of State
> Condoleezza Rice, who helped prepare it but ultimately was ordered to back
> down from voting for it and abstain, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
> Monday.
> 
> Rice did not end up voting for Resolution 1860, thanks to a phone
> conversation Olmert held with US President George Bush shortly before the
> vote, the prime minister told a meeting of local authority heads in
> Ashkelon as part of a visit to the South.
> 
> Upon receiving word that the US was planning to vote in favor of the
> resolution - viewed by Israel as impractical and failing to address its
> security concerns - Olmert demanded to get Bush on the phone, and refused
> to back down after being told that the president was delivering a lecture
> in Philadelphia. Bush interrupted his lecture to answer Olmert's call, the
> premier said.
> America could not vote in favor of such a resolution, Olmert told Bush.
> Soon afterwards, Rice abstained when votes were counted at the UN.
> 
> http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231760642497&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
> 
> R
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu>
> To: "Ron Szoke" <r-szoke at illinois.edu>
> Cc: "Morton K. Brussel" <mkbrussel at comcast.net>; "peace-discuss Discuss"
> <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 9:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] USA takes orders from Israel
> 
> 
> : Probably bravado by the feckless Olmert.  He undoubtedly knew the story
> of the
> : Bush administration's slap-down of the Iran hit was about to break.
> Remember
> : Sharon had said after 9/11, "First Iraq, then Iran."  Olmert leaves
> office
> : having failed at the grand design.
> :
> : Remember too that the US primary role all along (as in 2006) has been to
> keep
> : the UN (and the "int'l community") off the back of the Israelis as they
> continue
> : their diry business. The US has used the veto threat to do that, and had
> here
> : crafted an innocuous resolution that could maintain the lie of US
> even-handedness.
> :
> : If Rice was traduced in the event, it probably has more to do with
> faction
> : fights in the Bush administration (the neocons hate Rice for staging the
> : ineffective coup against Hamas in 2007) than the laughably small
> influence of
> : the departing (and indictable) PM of Israel.  He's pretty erratic
> anyway -- see
> : the famous interview with Yedioth Aharonoth -- and is not even running
> the war
> : in the final days of his premiership. He tries to insist he's not
> totally
> : irrelevant and leave his successor (Netenyahu?), who'll be dealing with
> a new
> : gov't in DC anyway -- to overcome the embarrassment. --CGE
> :
> : ============
> :
> : Last update - 19:44 29/09/2008
> : ANALYSIS / Olmert's epiphany is too little, too late
> : By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
> :
> : At the age of 63, just moments before his departure from premiership,
> Ehud
> : Olmert has reached an extraordinary epiphany. In order to make peace
> with the
> : Palestinians and the Syrians, Israel must withdraw from "nearly all the
> : territories, if not all." As he told Yedioth Aharonoth in a holiday
> interview,
> : even East Jerusalem must be given to the Palestinians.
> :
> : Whoa.
> :
> : What an epiphany: In order to make peace with the Arabs, we must give
> them land.
> : How come we never thought of that before? And where was Olmert when the
> Israeli
> : left, and the whole international community, was repeatedly exhausting
> this
> : claim? Was he really among the screaming spokesmen for the camp opposing
> all
> : agreements and all compromises? Or was that just the evil child within
> him, and
> : not actually the real Olmert?
> :
> : Olmert is repenting now for his sins: For 35 years, he said, "I was not
> prepared
> : to see reality in all its depth." Now he is regretting his vote in
> Knesset
> : against a peace agreement with Egypt, as well as his stubborn refusal to
> annex
> : even a millimeter of Jerusalem's wide border. But most regretfully, he
> has
> : reached this realization too late for it to have any influence.
> :
> : In his words, agreements with the Palestinians and the Syrians are "very
> close."
> : If he were to stay in his post, he could fulfill them, could "bring the
> State of
> : Israel to a decision." But then this mishap occurred, and the State of
> Israel
> : brought about his dismissal, with just "one dubious witness, no trial
> and no
> : substantial evidence."
> :
> : So now it's clear who is to blame for dragging out this state of war and
> : preventing peace: the state prosecutor, key witness Moshe Talansky, the
> justices
> : who decided to hear his testimony, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak who
> coerced
> : the prime minister to resign.
> :
> : Olmert fell, he says, due to the lust for power of unrestrained clerks,
> who did
> : not like his tendency to initiate and to make decisions. He would not
> discuss
> : the suspicions and investigations against him, but was rather insulted
> by the
> : criticism against him. A hedonist? Olmert? All he did was smoke some
> cigars.
> :
> : Olmert believes so strongly in himself and in his self-righteousness,
> that he is
> : trying to make us forget a few of the details that don't fit into his
> new image
> : as prophet of peace.
> :
> : First of all, his negotiating partners have been painting an entirely
> different
> : picture altogether - if not opposite - of peace progress. Palestinian
> President
> : Mahmoud Abbas has said the Palestinians would never accept Olmert's
> proposal for
> : "partial peace." Syrian President Bashar Assad has still not agreed to
> direct
> : negotiations with Israel, even at a low level. This does not mean that
> they are
> : right and he is wrong. It is clear that there is a huge difference of
> opinion
> : when it comes to the chance for an agreement.
> :
> : Second, let's assume that Olmert is right and he soon signs an agreement
> with
> : Abbas. What could be done with this agreement? Should it be hung on the
> wall?
> : Who would execute it and when? And what would happen on the ground in
> the meantime?
> :
> : Third, Olmert's attitude toward the settlers raises doubts about his
> : trustworthiness. Olmert disparages Ariel Sharon in the interview, saying
> that he
> : spoke only of vague concessions without detailing what they would be.
> Olmert is
> : willing to be specific. "What I am saying, no other Israeli leader has
> said
> : before me," Olmert boasts.
> :
> : Sharon really was vague, but he was the only leader willing to stand up
> to the
> : settlers and evacuate them from their homes. Actions, not words. Olmert
> is a
> : hero in a newspaper interview, but in reality has been a marionette of
> the
> : settlers just like the leaders who preceded him.
> :
> : Olmert knew full well that settlement expansion would be an obstacle to
> any
> : peace agreement in the West Bank, and had said as much in the past.
> However,
> : after the bloody 2006 evacuation of the Amona settlement outpost during
> his
> : early days in office, Olmert became fearful of any confrontation or
> friction
> : with the settlers. And when extremist settlers became increasingly
> violent
> : toward their Palestinian neighbors and Israel Defense Forces soldiers,
> Olmert
> : did not even try to curb it. What was he waiting for? Why did he decide
> to add
> : thousands of housing units to settlement blocs that only add to their
> rivals'
> : propaganda, even if they are ultimately absorbed into Israel? And why
> did he
> : leave the outposts where they are?
> :
> : The conclusion that emerges is that Olmert is an excellent commentator,
> but he
> : lacks the firmness to execute his ideas. The interesting parts of the
> interview
> : touch on security issues. Olmert expresses doubts about a potential
> attack on
> : Iranian nuclear facilities, and he strongly opposes a new incursion into
> Gaza -
> : something he was unwilling to say during the barrage of Qassam rockets
> into
> : Israel, when the topic was at the center of public discussion.
> :
> : But Olmert also acts like a politician: He ignores the only political
> agreement
> : reached during his tenure with the Palestinians - the truce with Hamas
> in Gaza -
> : because that accomplishment is credited to his rival Barak.
> :
> :
> : Ron Szoke wrote:
> : > Olmert says called Bush to force change in U.N. vote
> : >
> : > Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:52pm GMT
> : >
> : > JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said a
> telephone call
> : > he made to U.S. President George W. Bush last week forced Secretary of
> State
> : > Condoleezza Rice to abstain in a U.N. vote on the Gaza war, leaving
> her
> : > "shamed."
> : >
> : > Pouring on political bravado in a speech late Monday, Olmert said he
> : > demanded to talk to Bush with only 10 minutes to spare before a U.N.
> Security
> : > Council vote Thursday on a resolution opposed by Israel calling for an
> : > immediate cease-fire.
> : >
> : > "When we saw that the secretary of state, for reasons we did not
> really
> : > understand, wanted to vote in favour of the U.N. resolution ... I
> looked for
> : > President Bush and they told me he was in Philadelphia making a
> speech,"
> : > Olmert said.
> : >
> : > "I said, 'I don't care. I have to talk to him now,'" Olmert said,
> describing Bush,
> : > who leaves office on January 20, as "an unparalleled friend" of
> Israel.
> : >
> : > "They got him off the podium, brought him to another room and I spoke
> to
> : > him. I told him, 'You can't vote in favour of this resolution.' He
> said, 'Listen, I
> : > don't know about it, I didn't see it, I'm not familiar with the
> phrasing.'"
> : >
> : > Olmert said he then told Bush: "'I'm familiar with it. You can't vote
> in favour.'
> : >
> : > "He gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in
> favour of it -
> : > - a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for.
> She was
> : > left pretty shamed and abstained on a resolution she arranged," Olmert
> said.
> : >
> : > Fourteen of the Security Council's 15 members supported the
> resolution, which
> : > has failed to halt Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and Hamas's
> cross-border
> : > rocket fire.
> : >
> : > Olmert, under police investigation over alleged corruption, resigned
> as prime
> : > minister in September but is serving in a caretaker capacity until a
> new
> : > government is formed after Israel's February 10 parliamentary
> election.
> : >
> : > (Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Alistair Lyon)
> : > _______________________________________________
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