Monday, April 6, 2009

Israel Talks Peace Talk Talk



Israel's new Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been sending signals that he seeks peace with the Arab world. He has accomplished this by saying I seek peace with the Arab world several times on record. That's about how far it goes. He has not said the magic words supporters of a negotiated settlement have been longing to hear: Palestinian state.

The official postition of Netanyahu's hardline Likud party is that Israel is not bound to recent accords which mandate the creation of a Palestinian state. Senior aids have let slip that the Prime Minister might soften this stance ahead of a planned trip to Washington DC. If so, it would surprise the shit out of a lot of people.

His chief diplomat is a man who has called for the nation's one and a half million Palestinians to swear an oath of loyalty to the Jewish State. Tony Blair is all po-faced about the whole situation, and lead Palestinian negotiators are broadcasting to the White House that the new Israeli government is not a partner in the peace process. These are very low expectations which Netanyahu can easily beat.

Then focus can return to the question of whether or not a Palestinian state can even stand, the sole industry of which is abject misery.

4 comments:

  1. The idea of a Palestinian state is laughable. What they, the Palestinians, want is to find a way to push Israel into the ocean. Bibi will not allow this to happen. What is interesting is how Netanyahu is using the "power of words" to get what he wants. Take a hard-line stance and move forward from there. Methinks that the Obama White House will not find a willing Israeli government that wants to hand it's security over to "peace" loving Palestinians.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Certainly a Palestinian state on the terms that the average Palestinian stone-thrower would have it is laughable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In the long-term there is going to need to be a Palestinian state. I suspect that Netanyahu (if not Lieberman) understands that. Still, it would be nice if Livni were in charge. Given how frequently the Israeli government collapses, we likely won't need to wait very long until there's a new coalition.

    ReplyDelete
  4. No question there will have to be a sustainable, two-state solution, ideally. The problem is that moderates on both sides are undercut by fundamentalists that will not give one inch. This is the worst problem existing between various factions and it is worst by far on the Palestinian side.

    ReplyDelete