As I wrote yesterday, the Obama administration is using the fact that an Israeli municipality announced building permits for Jews in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem as an excuse to alter the fundamental nature of the U.S.-Israeli relationship. The building permit, and the fact that it was announce in a diplomatic faux pas during Joe Biden's visit, were just the excuse for which the Obama administration has been waiting.
The risk I warned of was that the Obama administration's disproportionate actions would be interpreted by Palestinians as a green light to consummate their preexisting plans for violence in Jerusalem under the pretext of a supposed threat to the al-Aqsa mosque, and the start of a Third Intifada.
And so today the Palestinians have declared a Day of Rage over the al-Aqsa mosque and the building permits at the heart of the Obama administration's criticism.
The Obama administration does not seem to realize that in the Middle East perception quickly becomes reality.
While the desire to bring Israel down a couple of notches may satisfy the desire for revenge over the perceived snub of Joe Biden, reality in Jerusalem carries stones, firebombs and bomb vests.
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You are right about this, Professor Jacobson. But the pressure seems to be coming from the US military and began last January. See my post today - it is basically an article from Foreign Policy Magazine about a report at the Pentagon that addressed just what you are saying and supports your view.
ReplyDeleteJust one element of the absurdity and lack of contact with reality is that this neighborhood--Ramat Shlomo--is universally referred to as being in East Jerusalem. However, it is quite far from East Jerusalem, being actually in North Jerusalem. That is like speaking of "the Bronx, a borough at the southern tip of New York City." This should not be a difficult fact for a Jerusalem-based news reporter to check.
ReplyDeleteI might also add to the above comment about the US military pressure on Obama to react (not to overreact and in public) that the Israeli Prime Minister NEVER agreed to stop construction in East Jerusalem. The construction freeze to which he agreed was elsewhere. Therefore, the tempest was in the timing not the understanding. And, as you say, the US strong reaction was indeed to alert the Muslim world that the US could get tough with Israel. Tough and ridiculous are two separate things. To have played down this was in the US's best interest. I have not see where the Palestinians were unaware of the true nature of the US-Israeli agreement. They are taking advantage of the situation as well.
ReplyDeleteWe are back to my main worry: Who caused the building permit's release to be broadcast so widely? The end result on the surface is clear. But I have this way out theory that Israel is in fact planning an assault on Iran and that somehow this falling out with the US is involved.
Final comment on all of this on my end will be my latest blog post:
ReplyDelete"Listen up, Obama: Israel is not the Gates Affair.
"Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them." (Joshua 1:6)
ReplyDeleteTo get elected, Obama had to pretend to be a friend of Israel, but now that he's in power, he's been waiting for any pretext to start rupturing ties to Israel. Among real friends, zoning disputes in Jerusalem would not matter. But Obama needs an excuse to justify what he has always secretly wanted to do---jettison our long-term alliance with Israel. A guy who hung out with Palestinian academics could not possibly be sympathetic to Israel. What naive fools the pro-Israel Democrats have been!
ReplyDelete