Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Source: Joshua Pundit
At least that's how the Politico's Laura Rozen tells it. And being that she's a well connected Journolist member with good sources at the Obama White House, she's likely right.
According to Rozen's sources, the Obama Administration is 'frustrated and upset' at Netanyahu’s dismissal of the incentive package drawn up by Dennis Ross to get the Israelis to extend the building freeze in Judea and Samaria another sixty days. You'll remember that I discussed a number of reasons previously why Netanyahu was smart not to take Obama's offer.
“They’re really upset,” one Washington Middle East hand in close contact with administration officials said. “At the end of the day, they made this incredibly good faith effort to keep Bibi at the table.”
Rozen's sources characterized the mood of Obama's team as “’We put our asses on the line, We worked with your defense minister and gave you this amazing deal, all the cover you needed to extend the freeze. And you not only rejected it, but put forward a counterproposal [demanding Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state] pandering to the right and a stalling tactic.’”
Imagine that! Instead of Obama's essentially worthless offers, Netanyahu actually asked the Palestinians to align with US policy and recognize Israel as a Jewish State instead.The nerve of those Jews!
Rozen and/or her source discussed new pressure being planned for Israel after the midterms in the form of what she terms 'American ideas for the basis of an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement'.
The fact that this is codespeak for an attempt to impose a settlement on Israel is revealed by Rozen's recounting of a meeting last week in which high level U.S. State Department and NSC officials were asked what’s to stop Netanyahu saying no to such a plan. The answer the officials gave was 'there are ways to put things forward that he can’t say no to'.
I have a feeling that what the Obama Administration is going to want out of Netanyahu is something he's going to have to say no to - even if it means a total break with the US, which was likely what Obama wanted all along anyway.
Look for Obama's shills in the media to be pushing the narrative of 'spoiled, intransigent Israel' and calling for Netanyahu to explode his center right coalition and bring in the Left in the form of Tzipi Livni and Kadima. In fact, that's already started.
destroying his governing coalition and bringing in the Left to please a US administration That's exactly what happened to Netanyahu the last time he was Israel's prime minister, with the result that he lost his political support,Israel got screwed out of strategic concessions for absolutely nothing in return and Netanyahu was voted out of power. I hope he remembers that lesson.
Especially since Obama is far less trustworthy when it comes to Israel than Clinton was.
