Closure of the West Bank, the opening of a new synagogue in Palestinian territories and, according to Peace Now, over 50,000 new housing and hotel starts [in East Jerusalem] continue to stress relations between the US and Israel. It is no secret that countries often have national interests that do not align. The irony here is that Israel appears to have intentionally slighted an ally that does not fail to back their national interest -- ever.
The US has emotionally, strategically and financially supported Israel for decades. More importantly, the US has allowed it to pay lip service to peace for years.
Vice President Joe Biden, who proclaims that there is no better friend to Israel [than the US], walked head on into an Israel that seemingly had no problem with challenging that friendship by making a highly political and confrontational statement. The declaration that it approved 1600 housing starts is not the point. The true message is that Israel could not be bothered with the likes of its old friend, US policy or America's current, and extremely serious, attempts to promote peace.
In a poor effort to try to repair the rebuff, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "The timing of the East Jerusalem announcement was a technical mishap" and would be "investigated." There was no statement on why the Israeli's had promised to halt settlements yet, like every other Israeli Administration before his, continues to build them by the thousands.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was more honest. He made no excuse for this "technical mishap." Lieberman stated that "the demands made by the U.S. and other world powers regarding the cessation of Israel's building projects in East Jerusalem were unreasonable." He declared that "preventing Jews from buying lands anywhere in the capital is a form of discrimination" (although Jerusalem is not the capital under international law) saying nothing about Israeli discrimination against Palestinians or their rights to buy these homes. In fact, he failed to mention that hundreds of Palestinian houses were demolished in order to build the new settlements.
Israeli officials and commentators are declaring that the US should stay out of Israeli affairs. I couldn't agree more. The US should also halt the $3 billion dollars in aid Israel receives every year, cancel the provisions in the Cranston amendment, where the US pays Israeli loans (Americans need that provision more), and require Israel to sign the nuclear proliferation treaty (NPT) or just slap sanctions on them for illegal nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately none of these things will ever happen. It is not just the Obama Administration that lacks backbone when it comes to Israel; it is also the entire US Congress. If China, Iran or Russia pulled these shenanigans, they'd be legislated to death.
President Shimon Peres verified this himself. Right after the confrontation he proclaimed that it was important to ease tensions. Haaretz quoted him as saying, "We have deep respect for [U.S.] parliamentary and executive institutions. We want these relations and are interested in returning them to their regular, positive state." Translation: with the US Congress in your pocket you can build all the settlements you want and the US will ignore more than one illegal rocket. No peace required.
In case you missed it, this direct insult to Vice President Biden stirred my inner most national loyalties. From what I see around me, it has done much of the same to others. Israel has squandered its US support by continuing to build settlements, failing to step up to the peace process and further weakening the US's position in the Middle East. As General Petraeus stated, "Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region. America's relationship with Israel is important, but not as important as the lives of America's soldiers."
To go one step further, neither is it as important as the United States itself. The settlement announcement has brought up more than a failure of communication. It has brought up a blatant disregard for an America that has perceived itself as an ally, a partner and a friend. The tipping point is that this perception is clearly just that - a perception - and the historical relationship is obviously heading straight toward a much cooler end.
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Thank you for this below & your justification for it within the piece especially:
The US should also halt the $3 billion dollars in aid Israel receives every year, cancel the provisions in the Cranston amendment, where the US pays Israeli loans (Americans need that provision more), and require Israel to sign the nuclear proliferation treaty (NPT) or just slap sanctions on them for illegal nuclear weapons.
It remains to be seen if the Obama adm will follow through with showing any real muscle about the Biden brouhaha, or the refusal on the part of the Israeli govt., to stop the illegal building, confiscating, bulldozing, et al even as a token effort to beguile the parties into yet another round of useless "peace" non-talks. What a ridiculous waste of time & effort on the part of everyone involved. In a way, I can understand Lieberman's response. Why bother with such a charade of prevarication & mendacity? The two-state is dead. The Palestinians are not quitters; they need to find another way to achieve equal economic, educational opportunities as well as services; safeguard their property & water rights & the like. They can't expect any help from the US or other major powers.
Stop making excuses for it.
Insults like this latest one are apparently boastful behaviors.
Remember when Peres told the story about shaming Condoleeza Rice by calling Bush as he was giving a speech. He boasted that Bush had to leave the podium to take his call. Like a servant.
Remember this story, "I asked Rosen if aipac suffered a loss of influence after the Steiner affair. A half smile appeared on his face, and he pushed a napkin across the table. “You see this napkin?” he said. “In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.”
Jeffrey Goldberg (The New Yorker).
Remember Sharon's boast that Israel controlled congress.
Remember the USS Liberty where Israel attacked a US ship and forced our elected reps and Johnson to cover it up for them,
AND VOTED AGAINST TAXPAYERS WISHES......the new legislators will know if they also vote againtst taxpayer wishes ....they will be out as welll.....I am disgusted with congress
it is totally disgusting isn't it! . . . America cares more about israel and the aipac than it does about its own citizens, its own credibility and its own welfare . . .