[Peace-discuss] Fw: Defend Obama from AIPAC?

[C. G. Estabrook]

"Instead of a reception as a guest of honor, Netanyahu was treated as a problem 
child, an army private ordered to do laps around the base for slipping up at 
roll call ... It was not the behavior Washington shows an ally, but the kind it 
shows an annoyance."

	Netanyahu leaves U.S. disgraced, isolated and weaker
	By Aluf Benn
	Haaretz.com

Details emerging from Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington remain 
incomplete, but the conclusion may nonetheless be drawn that the prime minister 
erred in choosing to fly to the United States this week. The visit - touted as a 
fence-mending effort, a bid to strengthen the tenuous ties between Netanyahu and 
U.S. President Barack Obama - only highlighted the deep rift between the 
American and Israeli administrations.

The prime minister leaves America disgraced, isolated, and altogether weaker 
than when he came.

Instead of setting the diplomatic agenda, Netanyahu surrendered control over it. 
Instead of leaving the Palestinian issue aside and focusing on Iran, as he would 
like, Netanyahu now finds himself fighting for the legitimacy of Israeli control 
over East Jerusalem.

The most sensitive and insoluble core issues - those which when raised a decade 
ago led to the dissolution of the peace process and explosion of the second 
intifada - are now being served as a mere appetizer.

At the start of his visit, Netanyahu was tempted to bask in the warm welcome he 
received at the AIPAC conference, at which he gave his emotional address on 
Jerusalem.

Taking a page from Menachem Begin, he spoke not on behalf of the State of 
Israel, but in the name of the Jewish people itself and its millennia of history.

His speech was not radical rightist rhetoric. Reading between the lines, one 
could spot a certain willingness to relinquish West Bank settlements as long as 
Israel maintains a security buffer in the Jordan Valley.

But at the White House, the prime minister's speech to thousands of pro-Israel 
activists and hundreds of cheering congressmen looked like an obvious attempt to 
raise political capital against the American president.

Knowing Netanyahu would be reenergized by his speech at the lobby, Obama and his 
staff set him a honey trap. Over the weekend they sought to quell the row that 
flared up during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's trip here two weeks ago, and 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Netanyahu's response to the 
ultimatums Washington presented to him as "useful."

Special envoy George Mitchell made a televised visit to the prime minister's 
bureau Sunday to invite Netanyahu to the White House. Washington, it seemed, was 
trying to make nice.

Far from it. Just when Netanyahu thought he had resolved the crisis by 
apologizing to Biden, Clinton called him up for a dressing down.

This time as well, Netanyahu almost believed the crisis had passed, that he had 
survived by offering partial, noncommittal answers to the Americans' questions. 
Shortly before meeting with Obama, Netanyahu even warned the Palestinians that 
should they continue to demand a freeze on construction, he would postpone peace 
talks by a year.

His arrogant tone underscored the fact that Netanyahu believed that on the 
strength of his AIPAC speech, he could call the next few steps of the diplomatic 
dance.

But then calamity struck. At their White House meeting, Obama made clear to his 
guest that the letter Netanyahu had sent was insufficient and returned it for 
further corrections. Instead of a reception as a guest of honor, Netanyahu was 
treated as a problem child, an army private ordered to do laps around the base 
for slipping up at roll call.

The revolution in the Americans' behavior is clear to all. On Sunday morning 
Obama was still anxiously looking ahead to the House of Representatives vote on 
health care - the last thing he wanted was a last-minute disagreement with 
congressmen over ties with Israel.

The moment the bill was passed, however, a victorious Obama was free to deal 
with his unruly guest.

The Americans made every effort to downplay the visit. As during his last visit 
in November, Netanyahu was invited to the White House at a late hour, without 
media coverage or a press conference. If that were not enough, the White House 
spokesman challenged Netanyahu's observation at AIPAC that "Jerusalem is not a 
settlement."

The Americans didn't even wait for him to leave Washington to make their 
disagreement known. It was not the behavior Washington shows an ally, but the 
kind it shows an annoyance.

The approval of construction at the Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah, announced 
before his meeting with Obama, again caught Netanyahu unawares. Apparently the 
special panel appointed after the Ramat Shlomo debacle to prevent such surprises 
failed its first test.

Netanyahu is having his most difficult week since returning to office, beginning 
with the unfortunate decision to relocate the planned emergency room at 
Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center and lasting through his humiliating jaunt 
through Washington.

Returning to Israel today, Netanyahu will need to work hard to rehabilitate his 
image, knowing full well that Obama will not relent, but instead demand that he 
stop zigzagging and decide, once and for all, whether he stands with America or 
with the settlers.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1158992.html

C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>     US-Israel spat is over Netanyahu’s ‘insulting manner, not settlements’
>     By Sahil Kapur
>     Thursday, March 25th, 2010 -- 9:02 am
> 
> America obscuring its real intentions, renowned scholar tells Raw Story
> 
> Israel's construction of new permanent settlements in East Jerusalem has 
> set off a series of public rebukes from the United States. But according 
> to Noam Chomsky, America's primary concern lies with the Israeli 
> leader's hawkish demeanor, not his actions.
> 
> Tensions between the two close allies escalated this month after Vice 
> President Joe Biden claimed in a speech at Tel Aviv University that 
> Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's plans would "inflame" peace talks 
> with Palestine. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during an AIPAC 
> forum that it "undermines America's unique ability" to be an effective 
> arbiter for the negotiations.
> 
> Chomsky alleged in an interview that the Obama officials don't truly 
> mind the settlements but simply prefer that they be overseen by a 
> gentler Israeli leader.
> 
> "President Obama, like every American president, has said that he's 
> opposed to settlement expansion," he told Raw Story. "But his 
> administration has made it clear that the position is purely symbolic. 
> They would not undertake even very mild steps toward sanctions."
> 
> Their main problem, Chomsky purported, is Netanyahu's "insulting" 
> posturing. Supporting an Israeli prime minister perceived as reluctant 
> to meaningfully recognize a Palestinian state could damage America's 
> credibility as a mediator for peace.
> 
> US foreign policy leaders "want to put in someone who's more 
> accommodating, who will carry out the same programs but not in an 
> arrogant and insulting fashion," Chomsky said. "It's the manner - not 
> the facts - that they're objecting to."
> 
> "What's happening now is very similar to what happened twenty years 
> ago," he continued, comparing the current clash to "when President 
> George H. W. Bush and Secretary of State Baker were insulted by the 
> arrogant behavior of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir."
> 
> Shamir's attitude was too "brazen" for Bush to overlook, Chomsky noted, 
> recalling that the former PM would "schedule settlement expansion for 
> the day that Baker arrived for peace talks." So "they compelled Israel 
> to throw him out and put in a more accommodating prime minister, Shimon 
> Perez, who did pretty much the same things, just more politely."
> 
> Obama's current dilemma is very similar, Chomsky argued, claiming that 
> the president would prefer the same outcome. The administration has 
> sought to downplay the conflict, but it appears to remain unresolved.
> 
> Netanyahu has rebuffed US demands that he halt the new settlements, 
> declaring in a speech Monday that "Jerusalem is not a settlement; It's 
> our capital." The New York Times noted that the prime minister 
> "reiterated that Israel had no plans to freeze housing in Jerusalem."
> 
> On Tuesday evening, he met with President Obama in closed-door talks for 
> the first time since tensions between the two nations elevated this 
> year. The White House canceled the photo-op at the last minute. A 
> "deafening silence" followed the meeting, Politico reported, and it 
> yielded no apparent signs of an accord.
> 
> Chomsky has contended that America's unmitigated support for Israel is 
> destructive to the interests of both countries. His detractors accuse 
> him of being unfairly critical of Israel and holding the country to a 
> tougher standard than he applies to the Palestinian people and their 
> leaders.
> 
> In the interview, he didn't sound optimistic about Obama's goal of 
> achieving a workable peace treaty. Over the last 20 years, Israel "has 
> moved very far to the right," he asserted. "There are ultra-nationalist 
> forces that are much more powerful than before and also much more 
> powerful religious elements, which have a very narrow and parochial view 
> of the world."
> 
> Chomsky added that the "highly unpopular wars" the United States is 
> waging in the Middle East further complicate the situation by 
> exacerbating anti-American sentiments and further fueling anti-Semitism.
> 
> 
> Jenifer Cartwright wrote:
>>
>>
>> --- On *Wed, 3/24/10, Just Foreign Policy /<info at justforeignpolicy.org>/*
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org> Subject: Defend 
>> Obama
>> from AIPAC To: jencart13 at yahoo.com Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 
>> 3:09 PM
>>
>> Just Foreign Policy 
>> <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=yxPKo0ShPumakaUps8nRiHSCmw%2BJxrVh> 
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Jenifer,
>>
>> *Urge your reps to support President Obama's opposition to Israeli 
>> settlement
>> expansion against AIPAC's attacks.*
>> ...v
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
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