Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday that Israel would not restrict construction in east Jerusalem, a step the U.S. has requested — sticking to a tough position hours before he sets off on his first trip to Washington since a diplomatic row erupted between the two allies.
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Netanyahu is a cunning adversary who should not be underestimated, and he knows exactly which country he gives his loyalty to – and it is definitely not the good old U.S.A. The evidence suggests he knows exactly what he is doing. First, his actions preserve his coalition and are in fact intimidating the Obama Administration, as far as can be judged from the public record of their timid response to date. Second, his words to his supporters (e.g., “building in Jerusalem is the same as building in Tel Aviv”) are consistent with his actions, both indicating his determination to absorb all the best parts into Israel, to ethnically cleanse those parts of Palestinians, and to subject Palestinians to an apartheid regime in the places left to them. That is a far more significant challenge to Obama than the Netanyahu Administration’s egregious insult to Biden last week. As Netanyahu flies across the Atlantic, Obama awaits on his knees. Whether or not Obama will be able to stand up before Netanyahu can deliver the knockout punch is now the critical question both for Obama's reputation and the future course of the Western confrontation with Islam.
March 22, 2010 @ 4:51 pm