Mahmoud Abbas' plan to seek the United Nations support for Palestinian membership has caused Netanyahu to call for direct peace talks. Thes talks had collapsed after Netanyahu's refusal to freeze settlements on the West Bank, where it has been going on since 1967 and has seen over 500,000 armed and subsidised settlers, living in luxury with water, super-highways and verdant gardens, while Palesrinians continued a life of harassment, (by settlers), muilitary occupation ("the lagest open-air prison in the world") and deprivation, (poverty and unemployment are rampant)
Thomas Friedman, columnist,writing in the New Your Times...." I've never been more worried about Israel's future. The crumbling of the key pillars of Israel's security--the peace with Egypt, the stability of Syria, and the friendship of Turkey and Jordan_coupled with the most diplomatically inept and startegically incompetent government in Israel's history have put Israel in a very dangerous situation". The ineptitude and incompetence is due mainly to Lieberman and his extreme right wing supporters holding Netanyahu hostage because of his lust for power and Netanyahus intransigence in dealing with Turkey and the settlements...he does not move unless he is forced, he deals in obfuscation and bluster. The dangers lie in the fact that Israel is isolated with only the USA a reliable ally ( but whose relationship with Pres. Obama is strained over Netanyahu's lecturing the preisdent over his suggestion of peace talks based opn pre 1967 boundary with land swaps), no friend in the Arab world and potential problemns on the Lebanese, Egyptian and Syrian borders and also a Palestinian state without recognised borders.
" It is a time when Israel has to be very careful", says George Birnbaum, former Chief of Staff to Netanyahu. "They are increasingly isolated in the Middle East and in the world" He continued, "the vote isn't good for anyone. It means recognizing a country without a border.It's not good for Israel, the Palestinians or the United States which will be in a terrible position in the Arab world". Obama is caught between a rock( Jewish voters in the upcoming election) and a hard place ( Arab mistrust/anger). He has said that the USA will use its veto in the Security Council. Abbas will the go the National Assembly, where he will be supported for "obser
The problems in Egypt, Yemen and other countries, the uncertainty in Syria and Lebanon and even Jordan, could see " the region end up with several Iranian satellite states"fears Birnbaum.
Isreal was created by a vote of the United Nations. That vote also created a Palestinian entity. While Israel established its state against the opposition/war of the surrounding Arabs, the Palestinians heeded the advice of their brother Arabs and refused to recognose Israel, demanding the entire territory. In 1948 Israel successfully defended irself against the Arab attacks. It proceeded to build a militarily secured state, but in1956 joined France and Britain to wage war against Egypt over the Suez Canal. Then in 1967, launched a "pre-emptive" strke and in six days routed the Jordanians and took over the West Bank, ( called Judea and Samaria by irredentists) and seized the Sinai from the Egyptians. The Sinai was returned to Egypt after the Camp David Accord ( Egypt's prime minister Essam Sharaf has recently said that the Camp David Accor is not "sacred"), but a land grab started on the West Bank. 500.000 Jewish settlers occupied large tarcts of the West Bank. They are religious zealots armed to the teeth and they will not go easily. They killed Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin when he negotiated what to them was a sell out and they now hold Netanyahu "hostage".
Such is the situation. Abbas cannot give in and lose face ( his head?). Netanyahu has Lieberman and religious extremists/settlers to contend with and President Obama who celebrated the "Arab Spring" is left to hold the "bag"
Thomas Friedman, columnist,writing in the New Your Times...." I've never been more worried about Israel's future. The crumbling of the key pillars of Israel's security--the peace with Egypt, the stability of Syria, and the friendship of Turkey and Jordan_coupled with the most diplomatically inept and startegically incompetent government in Israel's history have put Israel in a very dangerous situation". The ineptitude and incompetence is due mainly to Lieberman and his extreme right wing supporters holding Netanyahu hostage because of his lust for power and Netanyahus intransigence in dealing with Turkey and the settlements...he does not move unless he is forced, he deals in obfuscation and bluster. The dangers lie in the fact that Israel is isolated with only the USA a reliable ally ( but whose relationship with Pres. Obama is strained over Netanyahu's lecturing the preisdent over his suggestion of peace talks based opn pre 1967 boundary with land swaps), no friend in the Arab world and potential problemns on the Lebanese, Egyptian and Syrian borders and also a Palestinian state without recognised borders.
" It is a time when Israel has to be very careful", says George Birnbaum, former Chief of Staff to Netanyahu. "They are increasingly isolated in the Middle East and in the world" He continued, "the vote isn't good for anyone. It means recognizing a country without a border.It's not good for Israel, the Palestinians or the United States which will be in a terrible position in the Arab world". Obama is caught between a rock( Jewish voters in the upcoming election) and a hard place ( Arab mistrust/anger). He has said that the USA will use its veto in the Security Council. Abbas will the go the National Assembly, where he will be supported for "obser
The problems in Egypt, Yemen and other countries, the uncertainty in Syria and Lebanon and even Jordan, could see " the region end up with several Iranian satellite states"fears Birnbaum.
Isreal was created by a vote of the United Nations. That vote also created a Palestinian entity. While Israel established its state against the opposition/war of the surrounding Arabs, the Palestinians heeded the advice of their brother Arabs and refused to recognose Israel, demanding the entire territory. In 1948 Israel successfully defended irself against the Arab attacks. It proceeded to build a militarily secured state, but in1956 joined France and Britain to wage war against Egypt over the Suez Canal. Then in 1967, launched a "pre-emptive" strke and in six days routed the Jordanians and took over the West Bank, ( called Judea and Samaria by irredentists) and seized the Sinai from the Egyptians. The Sinai was returned to Egypt after the Camp David Accord ( Egypt's prime minister Essam Sharaf has recently said that the Camp David Accor is not "sacred"), but a land grab started on the West Bank. 500.000 Jewish settlers occupied large tarcts of the West Bank. They are religious zealots armed to the teeth and they will not go easily. They killed Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin when he negotiated what to them was a sell out and they now hold Netanyahu "hostage".
Such is the situation. Abbas cannot give in and lose face ( his head?). Netanyahu has Lieberman and religious extremists/settlers to contend with and President Obama who celebrated the "Arab Spring" is left to hold the "bag"
