Dispute with Israel underscores limits of U.S. power, a shifting alliance

[gambit]

Obama's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are both bearing fruit. Much more thought out than Dubbya's shoot first ask questions later approach.

Obama is grossly inexperienced at everything that is desirable in a chief executive. Bush's shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach allowed Obama the latitude to be 'thoughtful', meaning he can afford to appear as 'thoughtful' while executing the wishes of his Democratic handlers.

 

[freeman]

Obama is grossly inexperienced at everything that is desirable in a chief executive. Bush's shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach allowed Obama the latitude to be 'thoughtful', meaning he can afford to appear as 'thoughtful' while executing the wishes of his Democratic handlers.

In other words, Obama seems like a nice guy compared to Dubya.

Luckily for George he was born into the Bush family with all its privileges. Do you think he would have made it to the oval office relying on his own merit?
Nope he'd be flipping burgers now.

 

[gambit]

In other words, Obama seems like a nice guy compared to Dubya.

Very few want a 'nice guy' to like just for the sake of the guy being a 'nice guy'. They want a 'nice guy' so they can push him around for their own benefits.

Luckily for George he was born into the Bush family with all its privileges. Do you think he would have made it to the oval office relying on his own merit?

GWB 'made it' through the American electorate. Like it or not and no matter how much you want to bring up the flawed election.

Nope he'd be flipping burgers now.

For himself and have no doubt they are prime beef.

 

[freeman]

Yeah i have no doubt they would be prime beef, he prob would have shot and skinned it himself.
Im not talking about the election, Im talking about the family ties that gave him the opportunity in the first place. If anybody had handlers GWB was born with handles.

 

[gambit]

Yeah i have no doubt they would be prime beef, he prob would have shot and skinned it himself.
Im not talking about the election, Im talking about the family ties that gave him the opportunity in the first place. If anybody had handlers GWB was born with handles.

Are you saying the Bush clan had more money and political connections than others? Should you not wonder why Ted Kennedy never 'made it' to the White House and his Senate seat went to a Republican? What happened to all those family ties and political connections the Kennedy clan are so famous for?

 

[freeman]

Are you saying the Bush clan had more money and political connections than others? Should you not wonder why Ted Kennedy never 'made it' to the White House and his Senate seat went to a Republican? What happened to all those family ties and political connections the Kennedy clan are so famous for?

Nah not saying anything about Bush money, Ted, the Kennedy family, prime beef or purple people eaters.
What i keep saying is the same thing so ill repeat it one more time

GWB would not have made it to the white house without his family connections.


I have higher expectations of Obama making more progress on the Israel situation than his predecessor.

 

[gambit]

GWB would not have made it to the white house without his family connections.

And those 'connections', whatever they are, are grossly exaggerated.

 

[Fighter488]

Israel's U.S. envoy: We face monumental challenges this Passover ​

By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service



Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, on Friday issued a Passover message to the American Jewish community urging it to overcome differences and "unite as a people" at a time when Israel faces monumental challenges.

"Passover 5770 finds Israel and the Jewish people facing some of the most monumental challenges in recent memory," said Oren in the message sent to rabbis and other Jewish community leaders. "While Iran strives, unimpeded, to acquire nuclear military capability, and its leaders swear almost daily to wipe Israel off the map, efforts to deny Israel the right to defend itself - or even exist - proliferate."

Oren went on to say that Israel also faces the challenges of achieving peace with its neighbors. He said that Israel has made "unprecedented and far-reaching gestures to facilitate the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians" that have been met with little goodwill from the Palestinians.
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"Unfortunately, the Palestinians have refused to negotiate or even to prepare their people for peace," Oren said. "The Palestinian leadership persists in sponsoring the deeply slanted Goldstone report, which accuses of Israel of war crimes, in promoting violent demonstrations, and in glorifying terrorists."

However, he said, Israel remains committed to renewing the peace talks and "moving swiftly to a resolution of all the core issues, including Jerusalem, and achieving an historic peace."

The Israeli envoy also addressed the controversial subject of Jerusalem in his holiday greeting, reiterating what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others have been saying this week, that Israel's policy in Jerusalem has remained unchanged for 42 years.

"On the Jerusalem question, Israel's policy is that all residents, Arabs and Jews alike, have the right to build legally anywhere in the city, without prejudice," said Oren. "This is not the position of the Netanyahu government, but of every Israeli government going back to 1967. It was the policy of Golda Meir, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin. With that, Israel understands that the Palestinians also have a position on Jerusalem and is fully willing to discuss it at the negotiating table."

Oren also discussed challenges Israel faces in its relations with Diaspora Jewry, particularly in the United States, including egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall and changes in Israeli conversion law, saying that Israel is committed to "listening to all parties and finding equitable solutions."

The ambassador said that Passover recalls the challenges that confronted the Jewish people over centuries, but recalled that the holiday "also celebrates the precious achievement of liberty."

"As we gather with our families around our seder tables this year, let us be vigilant of the challenges and dangers we face but also thankful for the extraordinary blessings we have gleaned," he said.

Israel's U.S. envoy: We face monumental challenges this Passover - Haaretz - Israel News

 

[Fighter488]

ISRAEL-USA: PRESS, NETANYAHU WITH HIS BACK TO THE WALL ​

(ANSAmed) - JERUSALEM - Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu has not managed to mend the rift in relations with US president Barack Obama, with the latter instead having put him ''with his back to the wall'' by setting down a number of demands concerning the peace process with Palestinians. This is, this morning, the concerned view reported in the Israeli press following the premier's trip to the US capital.

''Pressure'' is the headline on the daily paper Yedioth Aharonoth, which in its subheading said that ''Obama has made requests Israel will find it difficult to agree to''.

Maariv, in citing a US government source, said that ''Obama is fed up with the delaying tactics'' used by Netanyahu, and in a commentary spoke of an ''ambush'' laid by the US government for the premier. Haaretz: ''Crisis with US worsens: Obama demands written pledges from Netanyahu for steps aiming to create a climate of trust'' in view of indirect peace talks with Palestinians. The paper said that Netanyahu left Washington ''isolated, humiliated and weakened''.

On leaving the US, Netanyahu spoke of ''progress towards smoothing over disagreement'' with Washington, and on his arrival in Israel will immediately call together the seven ministers of his ''informal cabinet'' for political and military issues to report on US talks and to look into the next steps to be taken.(ANSAmed).

ANSAmed

 

[Ghost]

We’ll admit that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is overplaying his hand on the issue of new construction in East Jerusalem. With just about the whole world howling for him to throw the Palestinians a bone on this issue, he has refused. Still, was it really necessary for Barack Obama to shun the Israeli PM during his Tuesday visit to Washington, leaving Mr. Netanyahu dining by himself?

Notwithstanding the biggest public American-Israeli spat in decades, this was an egregious breach of diplomatic protocol. No matter what gets said behind closed doors, maintaining the outward forms of mutual respect is the least that is owed to the leader of America’s best friend in the Middle East.

Source

Remarks of an Israeli: "You can't expect to be respected as a country when you let a circus troupe become your government and parliament."

 

[Ghost]

THE Mayflower Hotel is a grand old building in one of the best parts of Washington, and Benjamin Netanyahu had one of its grandest suites.

So why would the Israeli Prime Minister not hold meetings in the suite during his visit this week?

The Israeli media said he feared the Americans had bugged the room, so his key talks were held in the "secure room" of the Israeli embassy. How did it come to Israel wondering if its closest ally had planted bugging devices to spy on its leader?

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said: "The last time something like this happened was 12 years ago. The PM's name back then was Benjamin Netanyahu as well. The US President was called Bill Clinton.

"No amount of American political correctness can conceal any longer what has happened in Washington in the past 48 hours: there is a profound distrust between Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama."

Netanyahu's visit became a diplomatic version of Upstairs, Downstairs. The White House decided there would be no photographs. Apparently they did not want the Israelis to see two smiling men and assume all was well.

That fuelled strong anti-Obama feeling in Israel. One commentator said Netanyahu received "the treatment reserved for the president of Equatorial Guinea", while another said it was more like that for "the last of the wazirs from Lower Senegal".

The two met for 90 minutes in what was described as a tense and at times hostile encounter.

Obama wanted Netanyahu to make concessions and put them in writing. Verbal commitments were seen as insufficient.

Netanyahu said he needed to consult his advisers. So Obama went upstairs to the residence while Netanyahu met his aides in the Roosevelt Room.

While this drama was playing out, the influence of the two coalition partners who can destroy Netanyahu's government - Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu, and Interior Minister Eli Yishai, leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas party - was evident.

Both are committed to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the US sees as the major impediment to a peace agreement.

Netanyahu telephoned Lieberman, who told the Prime Minister not to sign anything.

Netanyahu asked if Obama could come back downstairs. When the US leader returned, Netanyahu reportedly told him he could not commit to any form of words until he returned to Israel and consulted his ministers.

The US President was unimpressed, and the meeting ended.

Back home, Yishai was making it clear the controversy over new Jewish developments in East Jerusalem would not daunt him. Yishai's Interior Ministry is driving the expansion of Jewish housing in disputed East Jerusalem, announcing three new developments in three weeks just as the US is trying to convince Palestinians to return to the peace negotiations.

Yishai told the ultra-orthodox newspaper Yom Leyom: "I thank the Lord I have been given the privilege to be the minister who approves the construction of thousands of housing units in Jerusalem."

Maariv newspaper reported: "Netanyahu knows he is on a collision course . . . the PM will have to decide now which side he is on: the side of Avigdor Lieberman . . . or the side of the rest of the world . . . Courage is called for, nerves of steel are called for, the ability to reinvent oneself is necessary. He doesn't have it."

Israel is feeling isolated. It is also dealing with an angry Britain, which expelled a diplomat after compelling evidence that Mossad used British passports in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.

That led one Israeli politician to call the British "dogs". But the National Union's Aryeh Eldad was quick to say he meant no offence to dogs: "The British are behaving hypocritically and I don't want to offend dogs on this issue, since some dogs are utterly loyal."

Loyalty is discussed a lot in Jerusalem and Washington these days - but both sides seem to be loyal to different aims.

Source