Finally, he said it!
Just as I and some others have been urging him to do for some time now, today Pres. Obama said this about getting a final Israeli-Palestinian peace:
- It’s not just critical for the Israelis and the Palestinians; it’s critical for the world. It is in the interests of the United States. And we are going to work as hard as necessary to accomplish our goals.
Here’s why this is important. Under both Clinton and George W. Bush, the (Dennis Ross-inspired) mantra from the White House was always “We can’t want peace more than the parties themselves!”
That gave a complete veto to whichever of the two parties wanted to block or delay the peacemaking. Which in practice was nearly always the Israelis, as they continued their drive to steal the land from under the Palestinians’ feet and implant their own settlers on it (with generous continuing subsidies from the US taxpayer, no less.)
So now, finally Obama is saying not just– as he has said for so long– “We think this is in Israel’s interest” but also “It is in our interest, as Americans!”
Which means that next time the Israeli government tries to stall and say, “Oh, we can’t do this”, or Oh, we can’t move forward because we’re concerned about that”, Obama and his people can say, “We hear your concerns. But sorry, buster, we’re pursuing our own compelling interests in this peacemaking too, and this is how we need it to proceed!”
Shocking? Not really. I mean, haven’t you heard just a few times the Israelis telling us they’re going to pursue their own interests in the peacemaking?
Now, it is true that Obama only slid that line about peace being in the US’s own interests in at the end of the remarks he made today after the “three-way” with Netanyahu and Abbas, rather than putting them more prominently at the beginning.
And it’s true that for Abbas to agree to the three-way– and even more so, to agree to send his negotiators to start the negotiations in Washington next as Obama asked him to do– marks a significant concession on his longheld previous position, given that Israel’s land-grabbing policies in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank continue apace.
But still, as I have written a number of times, it is crucial for the final peace negotiations to get started– and even more crucial for them to get speedily and successfully finished.
And if that is to happen, then the US President needs to not only declare but also single-mindedly pursue the US’s own interest in seeing them concluded in a timely and sustainable fashion.
So today’s declaration was a good (though long overdue) start in that process.
This is not new. Obama said literally the same thing after his first press conference with Netanyahu.
This is not new. Obama said literally the same thing after his first press conference with Netanyahu.
Now what sticks will Obama wield when the parties attempt to sabotage, again. Obviously, the Palestinian condition is more fragile, and the Israelis have the luxury of blank checks from Uncle Sugar. Where would you say there is fat that can be cut? And cut some more, until it begins to be felt. Who exactly do the Israelis have to fall back on other than the US?
I am still totally skeptical…
DonS if you read Helena’s blurb, she mentions when only Israel stalls. That garbage is against all evidence, specifically Abou Mazen’s position that the PA can wait, life is good in the West Bank and the economy is booming so they can sit out Netanyahu’s cadence. But the most glaring garbage in that statement is that she knows it takes 3 to tango with the Palestinians. Hamas position is beyond stalling, and the US has no leverage, money or not.
BTW, you may be best served by comparing the percentage of GDP that is foreign aid for each party, just arithmetic DonS, your conclusion may deviate from the superficial statement you just made. If you are unable to do the math, just ask, we’ll spoon feed you.