Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting on February 16, 2014 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/Flash90)
Posted on 03/02/2014 5:47:53 PM PST by Ooh-Ah
Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, president says unprecedented ‘aggressive settlement construction’ detrimental to peace process
Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama cautioned on Sunday ahead of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Obama stressed that time was running out for Israel to achieve a peace deal, and added that he believed Netanyahu had the capacity to rally Israel’s citizens behind an agreement.
But if Netanyahu “does not believe that a peace deal with the Palestinians is the right thing to do for Israel, then he needs to articulate an alternative approach,” Obama said.
“There comes a point where you can’t manage this anymore, and then you start having to make very difficult choices,” he said.
The president went on to stress that he would convey to Netanyahu, in the spirit of the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, that the prime minister could lead Israel toward peace if he chose to do so.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting on February 16, 2014 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/Flash90)
“If not now, when? And if not you, Mr. Prime Minister, then who?” Obama said.
The president went on to condemn in no uncertain terms Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank, and said that though his allegiance to the Jewish state was permanent, building settlements across the Green Line was counterproductive and would make it extremely difficult for the US to defend Israel from painful repercussions in the international community.
“If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time — if Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited,” Obama said.
The president added that Israel must come to a decision over its future character and weigh whether its current policies are conducive to achieving its true aspirations.
“Do you resign yourself to what amounts to a permanent occupation of the West Bank?” he inquired of the Israeli public.
“Is that the character of Israel as a state for a long period of time? Do you perpetuate, over the course of a decade or two decades, more and more restrictive policies in terms of Palestinian movement? Do you place restrictions on Arab Israelis in ways that run counter to Israel’s traditions?” he asked.
Obama further stated that in his opinion, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “has proven himself to be somebody who has been committed to nonviolence and diplomatic efforts to resolve” the conflict.
US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speak with the press after a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 2013. (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
“We do not know what a successor to Abbas will look like,” he added.
Asked whether he felt Abbas was sincere about his willingness to recognize Israel and its right to exist, the president replied that he was sure that was the case.
“I think that this is a rare quality not just within the Palestinian territories, but in the Middle East generally,” Obama said of the Palestinian leader. ”For us not to seize that opportunity would be a mistake.”
Netanyahu left for Washington Sunday for talks about the US-led peace process and nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran.
Although Netanyahu would like the conversation with Obama to focus primarily on Iran, the White House appears to have a different agenda.
“Obama will press him to agree to a framework for a conclusive round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that is being drafted by Secretary of State John Kerry,” The New York Times quoted senior US officials as saying last week.
Direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, which began last July with the goal of reaching a deal within nine months, have made no visible progress.
Kerry is now focused on getting the two sides to agree on a framework proposal which would extend the deadline until the year’s end.
Although the document has not yet been made public, it is understood to be a non-binding proposal laying out guidelines for negotiating the central issues of the conflict, such as borders, security, Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
The proposal, or its outline, is likely to be presented to Netanyahu this week and to Abbas on March 17 when he meets Obama at the White House.
…and Jewish voters continue to crawl to the voting precincts to vote for Obama and his ilk.
Obama casts himself “in the spirit of the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder” as he issues a
challenge to Netanyahu.
You have to admit ,THAT is the most priceless nugget in this entire piece.
Thanks —I was thinking of that compare and contrast picture the whole time I was scrolling down and reading comments.,and voila! there it is!
PRAY FOR ISRAEL
Oh my, how near we are to the end.
yup, Man vs boy...
yup, stark contrast for sure...
Is that “unable to” or “refusal to”? The idiots who put this muslim bro into the white house - I hope they’re happy.
Obama is the ugly direction of which he speaks. He’s got a job to do and it’s not in the interest of world peace and peace at home.
> Obama further stated that in his opinion, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “has proven himself to be somebody who has been committed to nonviolence and diplomatic efforts to resolve” the conflict.
Thanks Ooh-Ah.
very true
This could be hugh and series.Obama may have crossed the Rhine....errrrr, crossed the wine?......errr....Crossed the line?
The Massod had Obama’s number long ago. One twitch by the Massod and he ceases to exist.In truth, Obama has been played like a fiddle by Bibi from the get go. Obama is a man child. Real foreign leaders run rings around him.
All we can do is wish for Obama’s disappearance into the obscurity from whence he came.Every ally we have wishes the same.
Obama casts himself “in the spirit of the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder” as he issues a
challenge to Netanyahu.
You have to admit ,THAT is the most priceless nugget in this entire piece.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Agreed, that nugget shows Obama for the twisted idjit he really is.
Obama must have worked his staff hard to make himself into the Hillel metaphor. Obama is much more suited than Nethanyahu to lead the Jewish people , you see. Thats the point of the imagery.Obama IS in his own mind, “Hillel.”
Hillel was a redistributor of wealth, you see:
“Whatever Hillel’s position, his authority was sufficient to introduce those decrees handed down in his name. The most famous of his enactments was the Pruzbul, ,an institution that, in spite of the law concerning cancellation of debts in the Sabbatical year (Deut. xv) ensured the repayment of loans. The motive for this institution was the “repair of the world”, i.e., of the social order, because this legal innovation protected both the creditor against the loss of his property, and the needy against being refused the loan of money for fear of loss.”
Hillel’s most famous saying was: “ If not us, WHO? If not NOW...When?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder
Obama is indeed a piece of work. May Hillel Obama continue to stoop to conquer. It’s a cheap trick fully worthy of its progenitor. Oh how he wants his approval polls to go up! Obama is just twisting in the wind, hung on his own rope.
I can hardly wait to see how God intervenes.
Well, in the morons’ defense, if the next president spends his/hers first few days in office in a kindergarden, may as well be golfing. I’d expect months of preparation at that point. Then again, I still believe in the tooth fairy.
Egypt outlawed Hamas because they know the evil it represents while our president believes it deserves a state next to Israel that American tax payers pay for and...
it is all Fox News fault for reporting it.
” - - - “There comes a point where you can’t manage this anymore, and then you start having to make very difficult choices,” he said. - - - “
Yup. This backwards logic is what Soetoro-Obama used to justify abandoning his employees to die in the 2012 Benghazi Massacre.
Israel is just an Ally, so the choice that Soetoro-Obama would have to make would be even less difficult.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for ALL PEOPLE (even the Americans) that burden themselves with it. shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth (even the Americans) be gathered together against it.
I never thought in my lifetime we would see America abandon Israel.
"As Hillel the Elder had stated, whosoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world." [4] 'Olam' can alternatively be translated 'age' or 'world'.[5]
So that's where mohammad plagiarized that from, paraphrased it, and how it ended up in the koran? And now your I am not a muslim president tries to drape himself with the mantle of Hillel?
He's got more in common with muhammad than I've given him credit for - or accused him of, take your pick.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
