Word: israelism
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Benjamin Netanyahu is clearly feeling lucky. As his skirmish with the Obama Administration over Israel's settlement activity in East Jerusalem entered its second week on Tuesday, the Israeli Prime Minister was pushing back against Washington's demands. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has put the onus on Israel to "demonstrate its commitment" to the peace process by reversing a plan to build new housing units in East Jerusalem (occupied by Israel since 1967); declaring its readiness to hold substantial negotiations with the Palestinians on all final-status issues (including Jerusalem, whose control by Israel Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted...
...Netanyahu appears to sense the political winds at his back. While the initial response by many in Israel had been to berate him over the provocation during Biden's visit, mounting pressure from Washington on a wider range of issues may turn the domestic political tide in his favor. Netanyahu last year strengthened his domestic political position by defying the Obama Administration's demand for a complete settlement freeze as a step toward resuming peace talks. And besides his own right-wing coalition urging him to stay the course, a wider range of Israeli leaders may be leery of allowing...
...domestic political risk for the Obama Administration. A number of Republicans have already lashed out at the President over the issue - former Bush Administration Middle East policy chief Elliott Abrams wrote in the Washington Post that "the Obama Administration continues to drift away from traditional U.S. support for Israel. But time and elections will correct that problem; Israel has a higher approval rating these days than does President Obama." And the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, to which all major leaders of both parties traditionally declare their unstinting support for Israel, expressed "serious concern" over Administration statements...
...Israel expect the game of chicken to last very long. Israel can ill afford a public breach with its main ally, financial backer and arms supplier at a time when the Israeli leadership's prime objective is to focus U.S. attention on Iran. Nor would Netanyahu's government necessarily collapse if he gave some ground in response to U.S. pressure. His right-wing coalition partners know that they'll have a better chance of sabotaging the peace process while inside the government than if they were the opposition, forcing Netanyahu to turn instead to the centrist Kadima Party...
...deeper problem is that Israel's position on Jerusalem is at odds with the U.S. goal of winning agreement on a two-state solution. While a broad array of Israelis are either totally against dividing Jerusalem or want to expand Israeli settlements ahead of any peace deal, no country in the world - including the U.S. - recognizes East Jerusalem as Israeli territory. (Even George W. Bush, America's most ardently pro-Israel President, refrained from moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.) This disagreement between friends wasn't a big deal as long as there was an Israeli government...