Posted on 03/25/2010 3:33:04 PM PDT by SJackson
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Washington · Analysis Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week was intended, at least in part, to smooth over tensions that erupted during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Jerusalem earlier this month.
In speeches this week at the annual AIPAC policy conference, everyone stressed confidence in the durability and necessity of a strong U.S.-Israeli relationship.
But several key differences were on display as Israel's prime minister, the U.S. secretary of state and leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee did not back down from their bottom lines.
Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama, Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during his visit to the capital. But it was during the AIPAC conference that the differences continued to shine through.
AIPAC officials insisted that disagreements between Jerusalem and Washington take place behind closed doors. Clinton said that the Obama administration will make its unhappiness clear and public when it believes that any Israeli action is undermining the peace process.
In their respective speeches, Netanyahu and AIPAC leaders made clear that Jerusalem is off the table; for Clinton, it was very much part of the discussion.
She went out of her way to praise the Palestinian Authority; Netanyahu went out of his way to criticize it.
The two speeches on Monday -- Clinton for breakfast and Netanyahu for dinner -- culminated two weeks of tensions sparked when Israel announced a major housing start in eastern Jerusalem during Biden's visit to Israel that had been aimed at underscoring the close U.S.-Israel friendship and restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"It is our devotion to this outcome -- two states for two peoples, secure and at peace -- that led us to condemn the announcement of plans for new construction in East Jerusalem," said Clinton. "This was not about wounded pride. Nor is it a judgment on the final status of Jerusalem, which is an issue to be settled at the negotiating table. This is about getting to the table, creating and protecting an atmosphere of trust around it, and staying there until the job is finally done."
Clinton's mild rebuke brought surprising, if light, applause. It was a mark of the success of repeated pleas from AIPAC's leadership to more than 7,500 activists in attendance to keep things civil. She earned standing ovations coming in and out, with no audible booing.
Netanyahu's remarks on Jerusalem, by contrast, brought the house down -- delivering perhaps the biggest cheers during this year's conference.
"The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 year ago, and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today," he said. "Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital."
AIPAC's executive director, Howard Kohr, and its president, Lee Rosenberg, were equally as determined to make Israel's point, almost to the word.
"Jerusalem is not a settlement," said Kohr in the line of the morning that brought the greatest cheering. "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel."
Kohr also made the case for keeping such disputes out of public view.
"When disagreements inevitably arise, they must be resolved privately, as is befitting close allies," he said.
That's been the mantra of AIPAC, along with the center and right in the pro-Israel community, even as Clinton sought to turn it around.
The announcement of new construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, she stated, "exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region hope to exploit. And it undermines America's unique ability to play a role -- an essential role, I might add -- in the peace process. Our credibility in this process depends in part on our willingness to praise both sides when they are courageous, and when we don't agree, to say so, and say so unequivocally."
It was clear, though, that Clinton was sensitive to Israeli and pro-Israel complaints that the opprobrium she had heaped onto Israel -- she called the building announcement an "insult" -- was one-sided, and that she had ignored Palestinian violations and incitement.
Her spokespeople have condemned Palestinian incitement. And on Monday, Clinton picked up the two signal issues that have exercised Israel's advocates: the naming of a public square in Ramallah for a terrorist who led a deadly 1978 attack, and Palestinian rioting greeting the rededication of an Old City synagogue destroyed during the 1948 War of Independence.
"These provocations are wrong, and must be condemned for needlessly inflaming tensions and imperiling prospects for a comprehensive peace," Clinton said to applause.
Clinton leavened her calls for an end to incitement by attempting to shift blame for the naming of the square from the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority to Hamas.
And she had praise for the P.A. leadership.
"We commend the government of President [Mahmoud] Abbas and Prime Minister [Salam] Fayyad for the reforms they've undertaken to strengthen law and order, and the progress that they've made in improving the quality of life in the West Bank," she said.
For his part, Netanyahu criticized the Palestinian leadership.
"What has the Palestinian Authority done for peace?" he asked. "They have placed preconditions on peace talks, waged a relentless international campaign to undermine Israel's legitimacy, and promoted the notorious Goldstone report that falsely accuses Israel of war crimes."
Differences on Iran AIPAC, Israel and the Obama administration have differences on Iran as well.
AIPAC activists were pushing hard for enhanced Iran sanctions when they lobbied Tuesday afternoon on Capitol Hill, while the administration wants time to exhaust the prospect of multilateral sanctions.
But they all highlighted their agreement on the need for tough action to block Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"Our aim is not incremental sanctions, but sanctions that will bite," said Clinton. "It is taking time to produce these sanctions, and we believe that time is a worthwhile investment for winning the broadest possible support for our efforts. But we will not compromise our commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring these nuclear weapons."
Rosenberg, just inaugurated as the president of AIPAC and a key fundraiser in Obama's presidential campaign, made sure to hit positive notes, pointing to Clinton's pronounced pro-Israel record in her eight years as a U.S. senator from New York.
And Netanyahu made sure to praise Obama for increasing security cooperation.
"From one president to the next, from one Congress to the next, America's commitment to Israel's security has been unwavering," he stated. "In the last year, President Obama and the U.S. Congress have given meaning to that commitment by providing Israel with military assistance, by enabling joint military exercises and by working on joint missile defense."
Kohr, the longtime AIPAC director, used the policy conference to outline the group's priorities. He focused on gaining Israel its deserved entry into the international community through membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which coordinates economic policy in the developed world; getting Israel a seat on the U.N. Security Council; and forging a closer relationship between Israel and NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
All have been Israeli priorities for years, but throughout the Bush administration and the prevalence of neoconservatism in its foreign policy, AIPAC's embrace of these issues was low-grade. In fact, in making the case for advancing Israel in the United Nations, Kohr even asked: "Now, some of you may be asking, why does it matter?"
He ran through an explanation of the U.N. Security Council's powers, but left unsaid why else it matters: The Obama administration's emphasis on multilateralism and on working out differences in international forums. Kohr was telling his activists that this was the new Obama order.
Clinton ended her talk by evoking the Passover story.
"We are entering the season of Passover," she began. "The story of Moses resonates for people of all faiths, and it teaches us many lessons, including that we must take risks, even a leap of faith, to reach the promised land. When Moses urged the Jews to follow him out of Egypt, many objected.
"They said it was too dangerous, too hard, too risky. And later, in the desert, some thought it would be better to return to Egypt. It was too dangerous, too hard, too risky. In fact, I think they formed a back-to-Egypt committee and tried to stir up support for that. And when they came to the very edge of the promised land, there were still some who refused to enter because it was too dangerous, too hard and too risky.
"But," continued Clinton, "Israel's history is the story of brave men and women who took risks. They did the hard thing because they believed and knew it was right."
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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"But," continued Clinton, "Israel's history is the story of brave men and women who took risks. They did the hard thing because they believed and knew it was right."
As is Americas, interspersed with political hacks, and worse. When you say things like that, Hillary, stay away from mirrors. Your boss too.
Israel could not have a better leader at this crucial time in its history.
“Our aim is not incremental sanctions, but sanctions that will bite,” said Clinton. “It is taking time to produce these sanctions, and we believe that time is a worthwhile investment for winning the broadest possible support for our efforts. But we will not compromise our commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring these nuclear weapons.”
Note to Hillery!
Time wounds all deals. Your dithering IS compromising
your so called commitment if in fact the Iranians succeed
in aquiring nuclear weapons. It will do little good to
protest AFTER they are fully armed.
God Bless Bibi.
Good for Bibi yeah he shouldn’t be meeting with Barry way he treated him snub him for dinner via UK Telegraph this morning
“And it undermines America’s unique ability to play a role — an essential role, I might add — in the peace process.”
Who the hell put you in charge? The US has always tried to bribe Israel, and they have consequently believed that they have a stake—they don’t. The G-d of Abraham, Issac and Jacob is in control, and the toll that the US will pay for their meddling will be enormous.
I would bet a hundred dollars that she doesn’t believe that the Passover ever happened—she certainly does not understand what happened and what G-d was telling the world what would be expected of them....Obama is Pharoah, how many plagues will we have to endure until he says, ‘enough is enough’.
GO BIBI!!
We The People are with you.
I f President Bush had snubbed the Israeli PM, there would have been such a crushing reaction it would surprise everyone.
When Obamao does so...nothing..the man has a grudge against Israel and her people that borders on being Anti Semitic imho.
And this should put to bed the “Rahm Emmanual was in the IDF during the Gulf War” stuff as being worth anything for Israel’s relations with the US.
Sarah should arrange a meeting with Him, Invite only Fox to do a live shoot, and then talk about our long time allie, some history between us, slip in some talk about the recent down turn in relations, hope for the future.
And afterwards She should talk about how bad relations are now between allies and Washington. Point out how dumb sh!t gave dvds to England that could not work, that kind of stuff. She could have a ball
For my money, Bibi is “the leader of the free world”.
End of discussion.
Pray for Bibi, pray for Israel.
Show the Bit-h of Kosovo the door!
“The story of Moses resonates for people of all faiths...”
Since when? It was, is and always will be about the Jews, who included Jesus, who was a Jew; hence the Judeo Christian ties.
Bibi, don’t stop there. It’s time to rid the Temple Mount of the stench and to send mohammed packing on his mythical horse. Rebuild the Temple in the grandeur of the original temple. The land belongs to the Jews as promised by God and to their heirs through Isaac, not Ishmael. Also, you’ve got the backing of most Americans in spite of the problem we have in the Whitehouse. Don’t give in ever again. I’m deeply sorry that you, as a head of state and one of our most important allies, was rebuffed during your visit to our Whitehouse. Rebuild Jerusalem as you wish and push the palistineans back into Jordan and Egypt.
In their respective speeches, Netanyahu and AIPAC leaders made clear that Jerusalem is off the table; for Clinton, it was very much part of the discussion.
She went out of her way to praise the Palestinian Authority; Netanyahu went out of his way to criticize it.
AMEN! BIBI.
STICK TO YOUR GUNS.
ERRRR MISSILES.
AMEN!!!!
I want to start a letter of support campaign to Netanyahu!!!
Does anyone know where such letters would be addressed? I would love to get 100,000 letters flood him from the USA from conservatives who believe in him and SUPPORT HIM!!!!!!
Not too many can remember 1967 war. They should be able to see LIFE magazine’s cover: a sea of empty boots that had been hastily removed in order that the muslims could run faster!
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