Word: settlements
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...Obama Administration's latest attempt to kick-start Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations hit an unexpected setback after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during an Oct. 31 visit, praised as "unprecedented" Israel's efforts to limit construction of settlements on Palestinian-claimed land (above). The comment sparked an outcry from Arab leaders, who accused the Administration of backtracking on previous demands that Israel institute a complete freeze. Though Israelis have agreed to resume peace talks without preconditions, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to return to negotiations until all settlement construction is halted...
...ploy, of course. The Palestinians were tangled up in themselves, yet again. They had elections looming, and their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, had to hang tough: he was demanding a total freeze to Israeli settlement-building on the West Bank - which was precisely what the Obama Administration had previously said it favored. Netanyahu was offering a partial freeze, not including new settlements in East Jerusalem, the desired capital of a future Palestinian state. This was a nonstarter for the Palestinians, but it had the holographic glow of a step forward. It was an "unprecedented" offer, Netanyahu trumpeted, with...
...tough moment for Clinton, playing second fiddle at the Bibi-does-Gandhi show. President Barack Obama had softened his language on the settlements a few weeks earlier: instead of a total freeze, he had talked about Israeli "restraint" in settlement-building. And now Clinton seemed to cement the Administration's retreat, agreeing that Netanyahu's proposal was, indeed, "unprecedented," even though the U.S. still favored a total freeze. The most important thing, she added, was for the parties to get to the table as quickly as possible. The onus was back on the Palestinians - and the Palestinians quickly expressed outrage...
...echoing the "bluster" of George W. Bush after she said the U.S. would be able to "obliterate" Iran if it used nuclear weapons against Israel. Clinton's edgier tone has been evident from the start of the Administration: she took a sharper position than the President on an Israeli settlement freeze by claiming, in May, that Obama wanted "to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural-growth exceptions." And then, in Jerusalem, her use of the word unprecedented seemed a rhetorical leap beyond the No Drama ground rules.(Read "Clinton's Collateral Damage...
...With Netanyahu's settlement-freeze defiance having demonstrated the limits of the Administration's ability to sway the Israeli government, Obama now faces the uncomfortable reality that this has also accelerated the decline of U.S. influence with the Arab states and mainstream Palestinian moderates. Having made resolving the Middle East's most intractable conflict a top foreign policy priority, the Administration now needs the symbolic resumption of talks simply to signal progress. The message from the White House to both sides over the past week has emphasized the urgency of doing that. Unfortunately, given the gulf between the demands...