++Abe Foxman said today that he was for more sanctions against Iran if the talks failed. He called on John Boehner to rescind the decision to invite Bibi. "The invitation and acceptance is ill-advised for either side. It (the Iran negotiations)is too important an issue to politicize it."
++J Street said they heard from democratic lobbyists that the invitation has backfired and that the sanctions bill will not reach a veto proof majority.
++The organization sent out letters urging congressman not to support the invitation, saying it was an "attempt to scuttle the critical negotiations taking place right now."
++"But a foreign leader lobbying Congress is inappropriate."
++Dylan Williams, the spokesperson for J Street, said,"The greatest danger from this is that it damages the long-term principle of bipartisan support for the special relationship with Israel."
++And one of my favorite Israeli politicians,Tzipi Livni accused Bibi Netanyahu of leading the country into "crisis and diplomatic isolation".
++When asked about the flap,Josh Ernst, President Obama's spokesperson, said that Obama had spoken to Bibi Netanyahu more times in his presidency than any other head of state and that the President remains committed to Israel's security.
++But, Abe Foxman, when he can't get silent you know you are in trouble.
Showing posts with label Tzipi Livni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tzipi Livni. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2015
Saturday, May 21, 2011
More Reactions to Obama's Israel Flap
The Sunday Washington Post's lead editorial laments President Obama's relationship with Netanyahu and believes the President undercut his own diplomatic efforts by formulating his position on negotiations between Israel and Palestine the way he did. The Post claims that Netanyahu only found out about the precise wording of the section on Israel only a few hours before the President delivered it.
The Post's editorial in my opinion is woefully wrong in its conclusions, blaming Palestinian President Abbas for not wanting a negotiated peace. They never raised the issue of Netanyahu's sincerity on the subject. And also questioned whether President Obama's initiatives on the Arab Spring are now in doubt.
Since we're supposed to think there is only the United States and the country upon which we act out our policy,it might be interesting to consider that there is something called the Quartet chosen by the international community to foster a peaceful solution between Israel and Palestine. The Quartet consists of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. The rest of the Quartet is on the record as agreeing with President Obama's parameters for a peace settlement and saying that they especially stress the urgent need for negotiations.
Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom were quick off the block openly agreeing with President Obama, especially on the 1967 borders as being the starting point for negotiations, something Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far denied.
Tzipi Livni, the leader of the Kadima coalition in Israel, went on record backing Obama's plan and his tone. But she let loose on Netanyahu, saying: "The Prime Minister has violated relations between israel and the United States. He has endangered the security of Israel and its power of deterrence."
The sight of Netanyahu lecturing the President of the United States at their joint press conference has been the cause celebre in the Middle East and has drawn criticism here in the States. Pat Buchanan, not your most philo-semitic person, donned his commentator hat to say that he was bewildered by Republican criticism of Obama's position since it was the exact same as that of George W. Bush. But he also said that he personally resented having Netanyahu, who is totally dependent on America, to be publically lecturing President Obama like a schoolkid at the press conference.
Defense Minister Ehud Barack tried to downplay the PR fiasco for Israel, saying that the meeting didn't go all that badly and people were over-reacting.
In Ramallah on the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas instructed all his advisers to avoid any comment so as to keep the attention on Netanyahu's behavior and his collision course with Obama. Palestinian authorities privately said that the chance of renewing the talks seem rather remote after the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to the United States.
Unless Obama can change Netanyahu's mind before he leaves the United States, the odds are great that the Palestinians will again look to renew the United Nations Resolution. President Obama has openly warned the Palestinians that they would not achieve their goal of a state through this method.
Palestinians well aware that the United States has vowed to veto such a measure are now looking either to have a United Nations trusteeship declared for Palestine or to acquire observer status at the United Nations.
During this time, President Abbas has been consulting Arab foreign ministers by phone and is heading to Jordan for consultations with the King. He has requested a meeting with the Arab league next month.
We look forward to both President Obama's and Netanyahu's speeches to AIPAC this coming week. President Obama's words that the "Dream of a Jewish democratic state can not be built on permanent occupation" resonates with the better angels in Israel but the ruling coalition knows it's doomed if it openly talks about a two-state solution.
Everyone's ambulance chaser, Glenn Beck has used the occasion to announce his wonderous "Restore Courage" tour of Israel. For just a few thousand dollars, you can travel to the Holy Land and walk in the footsteps of the Savior. And get to hear Glenn Beck defend Israel. He has said he will be willing to die there if God wants it. Beck says that all of Western civilization will end if Israel is destroyed. He badgered Bill O'Reilly the other night about his attitudes toward Jews. And like many evangelicals, he invokes the name of Dietrich Bonhoffer, who died in prison after trying to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
What Beck doesn't confess to is how Hitler allowed Mormons to proselytize in Nazi Germany and how the American evangelicals, who love to talk about Bonhoffer, in fact shamefully supported Hitler's programs for Germany. Accompanied on his trip to Israel by the religious Right's favorite fake historian David Barton, Beck might have inquired about American fundamentalists strange history in their relationship with Hitler's Germany. But irony isn't allowed here.
Glenn Beck said that he hoped his trip would ruin American foreign policy toward the region. Any bets on whether he is greeted by Netanyahu. After all the Prime Minister stiffed one of America's strongest allies of Israel, Vice President Biden, for an event hosted by Pastor Hagee, who was extolling the Jewish settlements.
There is real bad juju going on here and anyone really concerned about the security of Israel has to be tremendously bothered.
As with the Republicans, I remember meeting Bibi Netanyahu with Bayard Rustin when Bibi was relatively sane and intelligent. What bothers me know about him is his fixation on Masada.
The Post's editorial in my opinion is woefully wrong in its conclusions, blaming Palestinian President Abbas for not wanting a negotiated peace. They never raised the issue of Netanyahu's sincerity on the subject. And also questioned whether President Obama's initiatives on the Arab Spring are now in doubt.
Since we're supposed to think there is only the United States and the country upon which we act out our policy,it might be interesting to consider that there is something called the Quartet chosen by the international community to foster a peaceful solution between Israel and Palestine. The Quartet consists of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. The rest of the Quartet is on the record as agreeing with President Obama's parameters for a peace settlement and saying that they especially stress the urgent need for negotiations.
Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom were quick off the block openly agreeing with President Obama, especially on the 1967 borders as being the starting point for negotiations, something Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far denied.
Tzipi Livni, the leader of the Kadima coalition in Israel, went on record backing Obama's plan and his tone. But she let loose on Netanyahu, saying: "The Prime Minister has violated relations between israel and the United States. He has endangered the security of Israel and its power of deterrence."
The sight of Netanyahu lecturing the President of the United States at their joint press conference has been the cause celebre in the Middle East and has drawn criticism here in the States. Pat Buchanan, not your most philo-semitic person, donned his commentator hat to say that he was bewildered by Republican criticism of Obama's position since it was the exact same as that of George W. Bush. But he also said that he personally resented having Netanyahu, who is totally dependent on America, to be publically lecturing President Obama like a schoolkid at the press conference.
Defense Minister Ehud Barack tried to downplay the PR fiasco for Israel, saying that the meeting didn't go all that badly and people were over-reacting.
In Ramallah on the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas instructed all his advisers to avoid any comment so as to keep the attention on Netanyahu's behavior and his collision course with Obama. Palestinian authorities privately said that the chance of renewing the talks seem rather remote after the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to the United States.
Unless Obama can change Netanyahu's mind before he leaves the United States, the odds are great that the Palestinians will again look to renew the United Nations Resolution. President Obama has openly warned the Palestinians that they would not achieve their goal of a state through this method.
Palestinians well aware that the United States has vowed to veto such a measure are now looking either to have a United Nations trusteeship declared for Palestine or to acquire observer status at the United Nations.
During this time, President Abbas has been consulting Arab foreign ministers by phone and is heading to Jordan for consultations with the King. He has requested a meeting with the Arab league next month.
We look forward to both President Obama's and Netanyahu's speeches to AIPAC this coming week. President Obama's words that the "Dream of a Jewish democratic state can not be built on permanent occupation" resonates with the better angels in Israel but the ruling coalition knows it's doomed if it openly talks about a two-state solution.
Everyone's ambulance chaser, Glenn Beck has used the occasion to announce his wonderous "Restore Courage" tour of Israel. For just a few thousand dollars, you can travel to the Holy Land and walk in the footsteps of the Savior. And get to hear Glenn Beck defend Israel. He has said he will be willing to die there if God wants it. Beck says that all of Western civilization will end if Israel is destroyed. He badgered Bill O'Reilly the other night about his attitudes toward Jews. And like many evangelicals, he invokes the name of Dietrich Bonhoffer, who died in prison after trying to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
What Beck doesn't confess to is how Hitler allowed Mormons to proselytize in Nazi Germany and how the American evangelicals, who love to talk about Bonhoffer, in fact shamefully supported Hitler's programs for Germany. Accompanied on his trip to Israel by the religious Right's favorite fake historian David Barton, Beck might have inquired about American fundamentalists strange history in their relationship with Hitler's Germany. But irony isn't allowed here.
Glenn Beck said that he hoped his trip would ruin American foreign policy toward the region. Any bets on whether he is greeted by Netanyahu. After all the Prime Minister stiffed one of America's strongest allies of Israel, Vice President Biden, for an event hosted by Pastor Hagee, who was extolling the Jewish settlements.
There is real bad juju going on here and anyone really concerned about the security of Israel has to be tremendously bothered.
As with the Republicans, I remember meeting Bibi Netanyahu with Bayard Rustin when Bibi was relatively sane and intelligent. What bothers me know about him is his fixation on Masada.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Go-Kart Races at Gitmo
Now we know why we can't close Gitmo--the US spent $500 million to construct a Go-Kart track, a Taco Bell, a Starbucks franchise and nifty neon signs that say "Welcome to the Pearl of the Antilles". I hope they allow the Uighurs to hold go-kart races to pass the time.
Rod Blagovich showed up at court today with the man who taught me how to write a lead graph for newspapers--the one and only Jimmy Breslin. In the prehistoric age, Breslin wrote for the New York Daily News and spent his time smoking stoogies in the newsroom, while I was to write a piece on the Angolan Civil War. "What's the most interesting thing you experienced?" "Walking along a riverbed at night guided by diamonds. shining in moonlight." "That's your lead." Then he went back to cheerleading the newsroom on to call into a local station, which was running a poll "Are you straight?" or "Are you gay?" . The gays had just taken a lead but with Jimmy's prodding the newroom pushed the poll back to a lead for straights. Cheers went up and deadline was just ten minutes away and he sat down and pounded out his column right on time.
Chris Hedges posted an article on Truthdig "The Christian Fascists are Growing Stronger". While I agree with his analysis, I disagree that they will become the force I had feared. Just keep them away from the school system.
Bernard Henri-Levy wrote a scathing op-ed in Europe against the Free Gaza Flotilla and lamented that a writer of the stature of Henning Mankell could fall trap to the disinformation. He did spend one sentence lamenting the stupidity of Israel's actions. But unnoticed was Henri-Levy's communications within Israel itself, where he asked Israelis to act more responsibly because people like himself, who had defended Israel against the European Left for years, have found it tougher to get traction in light of recent actions.
Former McCain aide, Tony Cordesman send a blast across the bow with the CSIS publication "Israel as a Strategic Liability". The piece found its way into articles in the New York Times. Cordesman warned that the depth of America's moral commitment to Israel does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily make Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset. So far, there hasn't been the usual AIPAC blowback against Cordesman but there will be.
However, the same day of the seizure of the Turkish ferry, the head of Mossad Meir Dagan addressed the Knesset and said openly that Israel had become a strategic liability to the United States. A speech that received little press in the United States. He attacked the notion that it was somehow because Obama was elected President of the United States. He said he had been quietly warned by the George W, Bush administration about this and that the problem doesn't go away by waiting out Obama's term.
Even conservative columnist Ross Douthat has published two pieces now that call on Israel to adopt new strategies or else face destruction from within.
We've now had the Turkish Prime Minister vow to join the next flotilla, accompanied by the Turkish Navy. This was followed by Iran vowing to send its aid agencies escorted by the Revoutionary Guard. And, to top it off, German Jews are going to send their own ship to Gaza filled with musical instruments. "All tactics, not strategy" Bibi is now transitioning from F troop to McHale's Navy. We should have some naval battles shortly.
The good news is that there is now a spirited debate within Israel among the elites over the whole fiasco. For the last two days,Haaretz running op-eds blasting the "commando complex" and the "bunker mentality" of the coalition government. Prestigious voices such as Amos Oz and David Grossman have weighed in, arguing that Israel must understand the limits of forces. Doron Rosenblum quotes an Israeli official as actually calling the absence of Palestinian terror a "propaganda problem".
Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni submitted a motion of no-confidence motion in the Netanyahu government for its botched handling of the Gaza flotilla and claimed Israel could have avoided the international isolation it now faces. She accused the government of destroying Israel's stance in the world and its security in the Middle East. "This is not just a temporary event that will pass. This is a continuous process under which Israel is becoming isolated from the world." Naturally, Bibi demanded the opposition stand by him as he did the government during Operation Cast lead and the Second Lebanon War.
Meanwhile Joe Biden was trapsing around Egypt saying that the United States would be seeking ways to ameliorate the effects of the Gaza embargo and like a good scout called on the continuation of the proximity talks.
For trivia nuts, Bibi Netanyahu is a Facebook friend of Orly Taitz, the Queen of the Birthers, who is running for Secretary of State in California. If conservatives face an epistemic closure, the Likud party and their allies are also, surrounding themselves in the American echo-chamber of the right surrounded by people like Rev. John Hagee and others of the Religious Right. The tea Party movement itself is funded by two of Likud's biggest donors.
Until this Gaza episode, I had not known there were actually Israeli self-styled " neoconservatives" with journals and think-tanks of their own. From some of their writings, they appear to be very Americanized in their arguments. One of which argued that Israel should use the threat of its nuclear arsenal to make Arab states do what Israel wants. It's like they were channeling Dick Cheney's American nationalism. We now have Israeli exceptionalism but American-style. It's so strange that Ariel Sharon now towers over this crew as a wise statesman. It almost seems like he should wake up from his coma to shake some sense into the ruling coalition.
Col. Wilkinson has appeared now for an extensive three-part interview on Dick Cheney and his effects on America. Col. Wilkinson argues that Cheney is not a neo-con but an American nationalist, harkening back to the days of the America Firsters. While I had always associated America Firsters with isolationists,he argues that it was really not so. Instead,they argued for American nationalism and unilateral action abroad. What we conveniently forget is that the George W. Bush era was in fact the time of "National-Greatness Conservatives", the brainchild of William Kristol. Part of this greatness would be achieved by adopting the policy of "pre-emptory war" and massive de-regulation to fuel the economy. The glorious aftereffects we will be feeling for a long time to come.
If you like the idea of a more small ball America, Peter Beinart has a new book out--The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris (Harper, 2010)--in which he argues that the United States as the world's sole superpower has faded with the disaster of the last administration and can be replaced by an America that focuses on its internal development and cultivating a different relationship with the world. Once I've digested it, I'll report on its ideas.
Today are the primaries in about a dozen states, which will be interesting to the extent that lunatics win their party's nominations. Off everyone's radar are the primary races among Republicans in Montana where there is a good chance the "white supremacists" will seize the party. South Carolina continues to amuse with charges that the Republican woman candidate for governor is a "ragtop", who is ashamed of her God (she's a Christian) and whose father, a Sikh, is organizing a Sikh conspiracy to take over the State. Also, she has been accused of having two affairs. For Democrats, the race to watch is the primary between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter. But it's an all-Republican show. By tonight, we will know whether Nevada will pit the Chicken Lady or the Teabagger against Harry Reid.
Lastly, Sarah Palin's new fence is higher than the old Berlin Wall. Joe McGinness is probably the greatest threat to our national security.
Rod Blagovich showed up at court today with the man who taught me how to write a lead graph for newspapers--the one and only Jimmy Breslin. In the prehistoric age, Breslin wrote for the New York Daily News and spent his time smoking stoogies in the newsroom, while I was to write a piece on the Angolan Civil War. "What's the most interesting thing you experienced?" "Walking along a riverbed at night guided by diamonds. shining in moonlight." "That's your lead." Then he went back to cheerleading the newsroom on to call into a local station, which was running a poll "Are you straight?" or "Are you gay?" . The gays had just taken a lead but with Jimmy's prodding the newroom pushed the poll back to a lead for straights. Cheers went up and deadline was just ten minutes away and he sat down and pounded out his column right on time.
Chris Hedges posted an article on Truthdig "The Christian Fascists are Growing Stronger". While I agree with his analysis, I disagree that they will become the force I had feared. Just keep them away from the school system.
Bernard Henri-Levy wrote a scathing op-ed in Europe against the Free Gaza Flotilla and lamented that a writer of the stature of Henning Mankell could fall trap to the disinformation. He did spend one sentence lamenting the stupidity of Israel's actions. But unnoticed was Henri-Levy's communications within Israel itself, where he asked Israelis to act more responsibly because people like himself, who had defended Israel against the European Left for years, have found it tougher to get traction in light of recent actions.
Former McCain aide, Tony Cordesman send a blast across the bow with the CSIS publication "Israel as a Strategic Liability". The piece found its way into articles in the New York Times. Cordesman warned that the depth of America's moral commitment to Israel does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily make Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset. So far, there hasn't been the usual AIPAC blowback against Cordesman but there will be.
However, the same day of the seizure of the Turkish ferry, the head of Mossad Meir Dagan addressed the Knesset and said openly that Israel had become a strategic liability to the United States. A speech that received little press in the United States. He attacked the notion that it was somehow because Obama was elected President of the United States. He said he had been quietly warned by the George W, Bush administration about this and that the problem doesn't go away by waiting out Obama's term.
Even conservative columnist Ross Douthat has published two pieces now that call on Israel to adopt new strategies or else face destruction from within.
We've now had the Turkish Prime Minister vow to join the next flotilla, accompanied by the Turkish Navy. This was followed by Iran vowing to send its aid agencies escorted by the Revoutionary Guard. And, to top it off, German Jews are going to send their own ship to Gaza filled with musical instruments. "All tactics, not strategy" Bibi is now transitioning from F troop to McHale's Navy. We should have some naval battles shortly.
The good news is that there is now a spirited debate within Israel among the elites over the whole fiasco. For the last two days,Haaretz running op-eds blasting the "commando complex" and the "bunker mentality" of the coalition government. Prestigious voices such as Amos Oz and David Grossman have weighed in, arguing that Israel must understand the limits of forces. Doron Rosenblum quotes an Israeli official as actually calling the absence of Palestinian terror a "propaganda problem".
Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni submitted a motion of no-confidence motion in the Netanyahu government for its botched handling of the Gaza flotilla and claimed Israel could have avoided the international isolation it now faces. She accused the government of destroying Israel's stance in the world and its security in the Middle East. "This is not just a temporary event that will pass. This is a continuous process under which Israel is becoming isolated from the world." Naturally, Bibi demanded the opposition stand by him as he did the government during Operation Cast lead and the Second Lebanon War.
Meanwhile Joe Biden was trapsing around Egypt saying that the United States would be seeking ways to ameliorate the effects of the Gaza embargo and like a good scout called on the continuation of the proximity talks.
For trivia nuts, Bibi Netanyahu is a Facebook friend of Orly Taitz, the Queen of the Birthers, who is running for Secretary of State in California. If conservatives face an epistemic closure, the Likud party and their allies are also, surrounding themselves in the American echo-chamber of the right surrounded by people like Rev. John Hagee and others of the Religious Right. The tea Party movement itself is funded by two of Likud's biggest donors.
Until this Gaza episode, I had not known there were actually Israeli self-styled " neoconservatives" with journals and think-tanks of their own. From some of their writings, they appear to be very Americanized in their arguments. One of which argued that Israel should use the threat of its nuclear arsenal to make Arab states do what Israel wants. It's like they were channeling Dick Cheney's American nationalism. We now have Israeli exceptionalism but American-style. It's so strange that Ariel Sharon now towers over this crew as a wise statesman. It almost seems like he should wake up from his coma to shake some sense into the ruling coalition.
Col. Wilkinson has appeared now for an extensive three-part interview on Dick Cheney and his effects on America. Col. Wilkinson argues that Cheney is not a neo-con but an American nationalist, harkening back to the days of the America Firsters. While I had always associated America Firsters with isolationists,he argues that it was really not so. Instead,they argued for American nationalism and unilateral action abroad. What we conveniently forget is that the George W. Bush era was in fact the time of "National-Greatness Conservatives", the brainchild of William Kristol. Part of this greatness would be achieved by adopting the policy of "pre-emptory war" and massive de-regulation to fuel the economy. The glorious aftereffects we will be feeling for a long time to come.
If you like the idea of a more small ball America, Peter Beinart has a new book out--The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris (Harper, 2010)--in which he argues that the United States as the world's sole superpower has faded with the disaster of the last administration and can be replaced by an America that focuses on its internal development and cultivating a different relationship with the world. Once I've digested it, I'll report on its ideas.
Today are the primaries in about a dozen states, which will be interesting to the extent that lunatics win their party's nominations. Off everyone's radar are the primary races among Republicans in Montana where there is a good chance the "white supremacists" will seize the party. South Carolina continues to amuse with charges that the Republican woman candidate for governor is a "ragtop", who is ashamed of her God (she's a Christian) and whose father, a Sikh, is organizing a Sikh conspiracy to take over the State. Also, she has been accused of having two affairs. For Democrats, the race to watch is the primary between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter. But it's an all-Republican show. By tonight, we will know whether Nevada will pit the Chicken Lady or the Teabagger against Harry Reid.
Lastly, Sarah Palin's new fence is higher than the old Berlin Wall. Joe McGinness is probably the greatest threat to our national security.
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