Netanyhau and Clinton
Photo: Avi Ohayon, GPO
Obama. Paying for failed management of process
Photo: Reuters
Part 1 of article
WASHINGTON – On the American side we have silence: No leaks and no spins. State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley is evading questions and explaining that he won’t provide information from behind the scenes about the negotiations on the settlement freeze; he won’t even say who Hillary Clinton phoned and when.
Plot Thickens
Attila Somfalvi
Official says Netanyahu will not present Cabinet with American proposal for renewal of settlement construction moratorium until he receives written security guarantees. Officials: Tension over US refusal to promise not to demand another freeze
At this time, the US Administration does not need the media. It wishes to work quietly, yet if US officials will feel that Netanyahu is not playing straight, American leaks will start. For the time being, however, there’s silence. Whatever is making headlines is being produced in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton openly lauded Prime Minister Netanyahu’s determination to promote the process and his willingness to undertake another freeze. For them, another 90-day moratorium is a done deal. They are allowing Netanyahu to undertake the political and media spins and to pass the decision through the cabinet.
Clinton is a seasoned politician. She understands that Netanyahu needs room to maneuver his coalition. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are making indications of rejection. They do not like America’s pledge to Israel on vetoing any Palestinian attempt to create a state via the UN.
Washington wants neither Israeli construction in the settlements nor a Palestinian approach to the UN. Everything needs to be determined at the negotiating table.
Good deal for Israel
Despite all the criticism leveled at Netanyahu from Left and Right in the wake of his meeting with Clinton in New York last week, the PM registered an impressive achievement – a three-month freeze in exchange for 20 F-35 fighter jets. That’s not a bad deal.
Israel worked very hard to get the stealth aircraft, and now we’re getting it in exchange for a 90-day freeze, rather than a withdrawal from West Bank territories.
One cannot avoid the feeling that the Americans are currently paying for their failed management of the process and the public demand of Israel to stop building. By doing so they turned the freeze into an issue, and they are now paying some billion dollars for every month of frozen construction.
Part 2 of article to be published Wednesday night
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