Leftists in both Israel and the United States would like President Obama to try and impose a peace plan on Israel in his second term. But the main plank of any American or international diktat is something that the vast majority of Israelis will not accept: division of Jerusalem. Earlier today, Evelyn Gordon wrote about how the woman leading the Labor Party back to political relevance has similar positions to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the peace process. But Shelly Yacimovich isn’t the only rising star of Israeli politics that wants no part of any Obama diktat. Haaretz repots today that Yair Lapid, the head of the new centrist party Yesh Atid, went even further than Yacimovich.
Lapid said yesterday that he explicitly opposes the division of Jerusalem and that retention of the united city by Israel is not an obstacle to the signing of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. This is significant not just because it shows that Israeli centrists are competing with Netanyahu for votes by taking allegedly right-wing stands on peace process issues, but also because it runs completely contrary to one of the firmest positions articulated by the Obama administration in the last four years.
If there has been one point of contention with Israel on which the president has pushed the envelope farther than any of his predecessors it is Jerusalem. While all American governments have refused to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, let alone over those parts of it that were occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967 commonly known as East Jerusalem, Obama has gone further than that. Previous administrations had tacitly accepted the Jewish neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city, most of which are 40 or more years old, as de facto parts of Israel. By contrast, Obama has treated these neighborhoods as being the equivalent of the most remote hilltop settlement in the West Bank.
It was over a housing project in one of these existing Jewish city neighborhoods that the president started a major ruckus with Israel because the announcement of the approval came during a visit by Vice President Biden. This supposed “insult” to Biden became a diplomatic crisis that supposedly demonstrated the extremism of Netanyahu. Yet as Lapid’s statement shows, Netanyahu’s position on the city still represents a solid consensus of Israeli public opinion, not just that of the settler minority.
I think Lapid is wrong when he says the Palestinian Authority will consent to a peace deal that leaves Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, since it’s quite clear that neither the PA under Mahmoud Abbas nor its Hamas rivals will recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state under any circumstances. But the Lapid statement also shows why President Obama’s attempts to undermine Netanyahu politically have failed. Though Israelis don’t want their leaders to be entangled in disputes with their only ally, they resented the president’s stand on their capital and backed Netanyahu.
If Lapid, whose party may turn out to be the third biggest in the next Knesset now that Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu has merged with Likud (Yacimovich’s Labor is the likely runner-up), is in agreement with Netanyahu on Jerusalem, it’s clear that the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public will not accept one of the key provisions in every plan that is put forward as a solution to be imposed on the Israelis: division of the city. That’s something that would remain true even if, as is quite unlikely, former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni were able to persuade President Shimon Peres to step down and lead a new anti-Netanyahu alliance in the January elections.
Though Netanyahu is not in as strong a position as he was a few months ago, the notion that the Israeli center rejects his position on peace is a leftist delusion. Quite the contrary, it is time for those who call themselves friends of Israel but wish to override its democratic system to ponder why they are so out of touch with the views of most Israelis.
why make up garbage about leftists wanting an imposed peace plan? n nshove the straw man into your broom closet. n n
waiter, that will be two beers for our friends ldubinsky and HillelA.Its on the house
Kronenbourg.
tiny sips ldubinsky
considering that I haven't found anyplace in NYC that sells Kronenbourg and haven't had one in years, I'll be sure to drink slowly. n nà votre santé
Corona's good on the sweet light side.
Corona's good if you like beer that doesn't have taste.
If it's good enough for Mexico it's good enough for my next immigration policy! The favorite beer of upstanding conservatives since last Tuesday.
Okay, Besht, you got me with that one. Although if I'm looking to Mexico it's going to be for Dos Equis or Negra Modelo.Hmm, maybe we should get Idubinsky a Maccabee.
Absolutely, and a Tempo Cola chaser and Elite chocolate to the side–well if they make them any mores. Must check out those Mexican brews…
Dos Equis'll do. I'm fond of dark beer. n nnever had a Maccabee. is it full-bodied? n n(have had Elite chocolate. the nabe is fairly Orthodox.)
I don't often drink beer. But when I do, it's Dos Equis. n n
Maccabee is thin, oversweetened and a waste of money. Goldstar is dark, full bodied and not too bad.
thx. thin beer doesn't appeal to me.
Next time, Biden should stay home.
Yes, his moves were blocked every time for two years when his party controlled both houses.
I can see why he named his web site dreck studios.
Good. However, I would advise against believing either Labor or Lapid. So they are not in favor of dividing Jerusalem…so then,I guess they plan to give all of Jerusalem away.
"…It was over a housing project in one of these existing Jewish city neighborhoods…" nThat neighborhood is called Ramat Shlomo, built on a rocky hillside in North Jerusalem, a rocky hillside previously used for goat grazing. nThe two other manufactured outrages have subsequently been about housing permits in Gilo, in South Jerusalem. Both Ramat Shlomo and Gilo just happen to be east of the 1949 armistice line. n nIf Obama wanted a fight over "settlements", he would have targeted Ariel. n nBy targeting Ramat Shlomo, I have assumed he really does believe the palestinian version of history, that denies historical presence of Jews in Jerusalem. n nI am so sad that Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will no longer chair the House Foreign Relations Committee due to chair term limits.
I agree that "Lapid is wrong when he says the Palestinian Authority will consent to a peace deal that leaves Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, since it’s quite clear that neither the PA under Mahmoud Abbas nor its Hamas rivals will recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state under any circumstances. " n nOn the other hand, that means the PA is no less likely to agree to a peace deal that leaves Jerusalem in Jewish hands than a deal that (chas v'sholom) redivides the city,or puts it under joint sovereignty, or even turns it over completely to the Arabs or the UN.
What Obama may or may not understand is that after a while, Israel, confronted with an administration that won't agree to anything or support anything, even if it's precisely what Obama was thumping his desk for, will sooner or later stop consulting or asking Obama what he thinks much less pay any attention to what he demands. What Obama never seems to realize is that he's not actually the supreme leader of planet earth. Israel is another country.
atta-girl ! I know that the American jews think that israel would disappear if not for United States assistance, but then American Jews always live in the distant past of benign liberalism. Israel today can live very well without a cent of American aid- which, in any case, are loan gaurantees. Direct aid is probably less than 500 million- a pittance in Israel's GDP. Many israelis have been saying for years that we should respectfully decline any more aid from the US-so that the anti=semites will not have that phony club to beat over israel's head. Military aid will always continue because the American military forces get lots of info and help from Israel. so, i say, bibi-do what is good for israel-not for the Arabs!
Spare parts. Spare parts. n nUN Sec. Council vetoes. n nTHOSE are the short and curly hairs the US had a firm hold of. n nGlick calls for Israel to develop a vertically integrated defense industry. About time. n nAs regards the UN, Israel would then need another permanent member friend to replace the US. n nI don't see one . . . .yet.
Glick is an idiot. A defense industry such as she envisions would drain the economy of such a small nation and would have to compete for world-wide sales to keep from crushing that economy.
Says you. n nI think not. Worldwide sales might climb from number 3 or 4 to number 2. n n
you must have more recent figures than I. n nlast I checked it was more like #7 n
Regardless. There's room to move up.
yes, there's room, but 'movingup' requires the commitment of masses of money and energy and will put israel into competition with the US and that's gonna lead to curtailment of copoeration and more
U r a fool. Pr. O agenda main target is foreign policy, and the transformation of the US in a socialist country and a leveling of the US with the MBs. He is trying to impose his Islamophilia upon this country while the far left will do anything and everything to keep the Republicans out of business as long as they can. It will take a lot of deception but the left wants a left dominated country. Any trick is good in the socialo-communist lexicon.