"Israel blindsided Vice President Joe Biden''s fence-mending mission Tuesday by announcing a settler building boom in East Jerusalem.
The move to expand an Orthodox Jewish settlement by 1,600 units embarrassed Biden, who was trying to jump-start "indirect" talks with the Palestinians.
Biden showed his anger by arriving 90 minutes late for dinner at the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I condemn the decision" by Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai to build in the area of the West Bank annexed to Jerusalem by Israel, Biden said in an unusually undiplomatic statement.
He called the announcement "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I've had here in Israel."" NY Daily News
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Joe! Joe! If you kiss their butts and say that they are we and we are they, then you have to expect to be treated like the servant that you are. Just today you snuggled up to them and told the world that there is no "space between Israel and the US." They took you at your word, that's all. You got what you asked for. pl
“You got what you asked for.”
Correct. So, will we ever be brave enough to stand up?
The current Israeli government is insufferable.
I’m not merely talking about the deliberately unhelpful remarks and stunts of Avigdor Liebermann (deliberately insulting the Turkish ambassador, and then bragging about it. Who needs allies anyway?) Wonderful take on that here.
Then there is the in-your-face settling in occupied territory. And then, Israel iirc gets some 20 billion a year from he US not as a loan but … as a gift? Whatever, on Netanyahu’s recent visit to the US he didn’t have time to meet Obama, instead he will attend an AIPAC conference.
The message to Obama is clear: We have a large and activist base of support in the US. Thus it does not matter whether you like our policies or not. And we will do what we want. Whatever you do we can ignore or stall. F*** you.
Maybe it is time to take the red ink pen and stop the flow of some of the payments to Israel? Just to teach ’em? Because they’re in dire need of some teaching.
Deliberately insulting by proxy, that is.
$100k less aid for every unit they build. that’s the response I dream a US leader will give the Israeli’s some day.
It’s the exact same thing just like any other time.
– invading al aqsa for no reason, right on the eve of peace talk
– announcing massive settlement building
– acheological dig (oh, we found Jesus sandal, bible doodle, and bla bla…)
– There is no “peace talk”. It is nothing but charade to buy Israel operative time to run political attack inside US and fill in new pro-Israel stooges.
as usual this will be followed by:
– bombing
– Gaza/west bank attack ..etc
Like I say, they just turn their playbook to page one and cycle through old tricks like nothing happens.
And once again, this will cost a lot:
1. relationship with allies (germany (their main trading partner), france (moderate politics), UK (who knows, they are a goner))
2. picking up fight with Russia, china
3. neocon fav. Syria, Iran, Iraq flares up
4. Clashing with arab world …again
So what we have now is:
1. European economy going double dip (removing $70B iranian cash out of EU bank, oil supply from Iran, gas supply from russia, stopping contract worth 1-2% of GE/FR GDP) Fringe countries like PIGS are collapsing. And guess who is attacking and trying to profit from all this?
2. China(taiwan), Japan recent clash trying to punish them for not supporting Iran attack. And these are the top 2 countries who supply credit.
3. Rest of the world. SE asia (why do you have relationship with Iran. result: riot, cancellation of US contract, frozen relationship, etc.
4. Latin america is gone. Honduras, Venezuela. (Brazil??!!) Big market/oil supply/investment, etc.
5. out of asia (china, Japan, asean) next will be south Korea.
If I were in charge. Hillary would be gone right at this second since she is in charge of foreign relationship to stabilize and fix US economy (relationship, trade, investment, stabilizing exchange, energy supply) Instead she and her crew are pissing off new country every other week running neocon scheme. (Turkey being the last one. Major NATO/middle east market) Every single country she visited turn negative within 3 months!! She is approaching Condi.
so far
– Russia (oil,credit,stability of european energy supply,nuclear treaty, middle east & central asia politics)
– China (credit, forex, asian geopolitical balance, north korea)
– Arab world (oil, Iraq, afghanistan, Pakistan)
– EU (NATO allies economic stability and energy supply)
All these for what?
The privilage of giving israel $3B/year, detested by the world for supporting major occupation & attrocities, having domestic politics corrupted by Israel controlled organization like aipac, military espionage and facing persistence low level terrorism?
US is going Weimar republic at 90mph for sure. All of a sudden for no good reason we will be in more war in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, North Korea. War by proxy with China & Russia. Bickering with all major allies and rival. Then have to pay war reparation, under global trade sanction, huge debt, hyper inflation, banking bust, industrial collapse, major political turmoil.
And people wonder why every single major empire in the end commit genocide and mass expulsion. Every single one of them! The consistency is amazing.
that really was an astonishing backhand across the face, wasn’t it.
but, bibi swears even he wasn’t aware of the timing of the settlement announcement.
biden should have put the checkbook back in his pocket and turned his car around, gotten on his plane and continued on his trip.
Biden would have done better to immediately discontinue his visit to Israel upon receiving the news.
Perhaps it is time for the US to review its commitment to tha dead end two-state solution and adopt a one-state solution to the Israel-Palestine crisis.
Divided countries do not work well. I offer as evidence:Ireland-Northern Ireland, West Germany-East Germany, Norht Korea-South Korea, North Vietnam-South Vietnam and even India-Pakistan.
I don’t consider arriving 90 minutes late to be a suitable answer to Israel’s announcement. Maybe 160 minutes or even 1600 minutes would be more equitable.
Excuse me for asking, but why are we so tied-at-the-hip with Israel? Is it out of guilt? We didn’t take part in the Holocaust. Or is it–perish the thought–because so many of our politicians are either Jewish or dependent on Jewish largesse to be elected?
If there is so much hassle about our budget, that’s one thing we can cut: the billions given to Israel each year.
Pat;
It’s my understanding that the new construction of those 1600 units was first announced while VP Biden was still in Air Force 2 on the way to Isreal. It would have been nice if, when the plane landed, Joe came down the ramp, denounced that decision, then got back on the plane and headed home. Yes, it would be disrepectful to the Isrealis…but no more so than the disrepect they showed Biden, and by extension, the American people. Not to mention, the long suffering Palestinians. I do wonder though, given our current budget woes, how much longer the Isrealis think they can count on our generous military and economic aid. The US is like a guilty parent, and Israel the spoiled, bullying teenager, always complaining for a bigger allowance and whining about whatever small restrictions are put on it’s behavior. Stay out all night? Come home hungover in the morning? Blow away a couple of Palestinian families with gunship fired rockets to take out a possible Hamas commander? No, it’s long past time we chucked the diplomatic niceties with our erstwhile ally (that has continuously engaged in espionage against us). The Isrealis have gotten a free ride from us long enough. If the Isreali government wants to continue their Punch and Judy show with the Palestinians, the Lebanese, the Syrians and Iran, that’s their business. But we should have walked away from them a long time ago.
Pete Deer
My thoughts also Col., when I read the two stories yesterday. We are with you Israel and then Israel turns around and said ” watch us”
One has to wonder if there is anything Israel can do that will result in the US reappraising the horribly lopsided relationship. The experience of the USS Liberty suggests that even killing American servicemen can be “explained.” Until a president develops the cojones to stand up to Israel, US foreign and security policy will continue to be a trainwreck. Israel knows it controls congress and the media in the US and is convinced it can get away with murder, literally. Never before in the history of the world has a small client state so manipulated a great power into doing things that ultimately might prove suicidal.
“”Israel blindsided Vice President Joe Biden”s fence-mending mission …”
So, do we conclude that we have an “intelligence failure” on Israel or a failure by our diplomats and diplomacy?
The US Vice President (not to mention the Secretary of State) is made to look like a fool and these United States are insulted.
All the more reason for a full blown, searching, and extensive NIE on Israel. The extensive NIE should include extensive coverage of coutnerintelligence issues.
‘One has to wonder if there is anything Israel can do that will result in the US reappraising the horribly lopsided relationship.”
People are p.o’ed, Fox apolpectic, when Obama bows to an hereditary emporor worthy of of token cultural courtesy, but when Biden bends over to take it up the fundament like a good little statesman, not a peep.
I don’t wonder at all. There is no limit, no boundary, all the world’s just an Eretzian stage.
Dear Colonel:
There seems to be a pattern with the Obama admin.
Obama: Bank executive bonuses are obscene.
Banks: Ha Ha, who are you to tell us anything (can’t make it to DC because of weather)
Obama: well, ummm, ok.
Cheney: We tortured, what are you going to do about it?
Obama: Ummm. ok.
and others, including the topic of this post.
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SubKommander Dred: Israel does seem to gratuitously burn bridges, which will leave it metaphorically trapped on an island with shifts in global power and finance to China (and the US bridge collapses due to lack of funds). Its leaders seem blind (or dont care and plan to emigrate) to changing geopolitical power shifts. The word hubris comes to mind.
While I agree in full with most commentators here on the main issue, I have to give a little cred for how Biden played it in Ramallah today. Either hes a twofaced liar (surprise) or he actually got quite angry, because the endorsment he gave Abbas and his condemnation of the latest Israeli move was pretty direct.
pl,
Joe definitely was bent over the barrel and abused by the Israeli government.
I wonder whether the Obama administration will demonstrate its displeasure in public or private. I have no preference, other than I want it to hurt and make them think real hard about being so “cabron” in the future.
Pissing off allies, like the Americans and Turks, is not a very good strategic plan. As my mother would say, they are biting their nose to spite their face.
Israel sets Biden up, so the US looks weak and silly. Then Israel “apologizes” by saying that it just goofed; actually, it should have stabbed us in the back after Biden had left, not while he was there – insulting both because of the clear intent to subvert US declared policy and because of its patent insincerity.
But insults from Israel are not what is important. What is important is that the world is still waiting for Obama to stand up like a man and back up his own vice president!
Either the superpower has power or it gives it away. Can’t be both.
Someone wrote the other day that he’d wiped the spit off his face and said it was rainin’. The World feels like it is changing, so that means it is.We don’t have the luxury of eating this kind of crap anymore.