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(Bloomberg) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a Mideast trip to revive stalled peace talks, commended Israel’s “unprecedented” offer to limit construction of Jewish settlements, while Palestinians maintained their demand for a total building freeze.
Clinton’s praise of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hours after she stopped in Abu Dhabi to see Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas, contrasted with administration criticism earlier this year of Israel’s West Bank settlement policy.
“At the beginning of the administration we were out to bury Netanyahu on this issue,” said Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington and a former Middle East negotiator. “The pendulum has swung and we’re now praising him.”
Clinton said that while the U.S. still opposes new Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the Israeli offer may be good enough to get negotiations restarted.
“The Israelis have responded to our call to stop settlement activity by expressing a willingness to restrain settlement activity,” she said today. “While their offer falls short of our position, if acted upon, it would provide unprecedented restrictions on settlements and would have a significant and meaningful effect on the ground.”
The Israeli prime minister’s proposal to halt new building in the West Bank aside from growth to existing settlements as a precursor to talks was “unprecedented,” Clinton said at a news conference yesterday with Netanyahu.
“There are always demands made in any negotiations that are not going to be met,” she said when asked whether she had managed to persuade the parties to return to talks for a two- state solution. “We hope that we’ll be able to move into the negotiations where all the issues” will be on the table for the two sides to “begin to resolve,” she said.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters before the Clinton-Netanyahu meeting “settlements shouldn’t be seen as a precondition” on resuming peace talks.
Clinton’s support for the Israeli position that a total settlement freeze need not be a precondition for resumption of negotiations contrasts with Obama’s June 4 speech at Cairo University, where he promised to resume a serious peace process to end the conflict within two years, said Hani al-Masri a political scientist at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank.
TEL AVIV — Palestinian officials on Sunday reacted with frustration at U.S. efforts to restart deadlocked Mideast peace talks, accusing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of backtracking on earlier U.S. demands for a halt in settlement building in the West Bank.
“It’s damaging for the administration to walk in a zigzag line on the settlements” issue, said Palestinian Authority Housing and Public Works Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
The Obama administration’s earlier outspoken insistence on a complete halt appeared to heighten a sense of disappointment by Palestinian officials over Mrs. Clinton’s comments.
Jordan’s King Abdullah embarked on an unexpected trip to Cairo to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
A Palestinian man prays Sunday on his land, which overlooks
the Israeli settlement of Har Homa near Bethlehem.
Israel is “derailing” peace efforts by building settlements and jeopardizing the identity of Jerusalem Al-Quds and holy places, the leaders of Jordan and Egyptian say.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in a joint communique in Cairo, warned on Sunday that Israel’s unilateral actions in the occupied Palestinian territories are endangering peace efforts and would ultimately have a “catastrophic” effect on the region.
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[Links added to article are mine – Oui]
(Zionism-Israel) July 2, 2009 – Ross, a veteran peace negotiator known for his strong ties with Israel and his past work with a Jewish think tank, will be special assistant to the president and senior director of the Central Region at the National Security Council. The post will include responsibility for Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the Middle East. The announcement of Ross’s appointment came June 25 after a week of speculation in Washington.
In his previous post as a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ross’s responsibilities were limited to the Southwest Asia region with a focus on Iran. His new NSC post gives him a say over a much broader area. Ross also will oversee Iraq policy in the run-up to United States troop withdrawal. In addition, he will advise on the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.
The Obama administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Jerusalem are looking for ways to reach an understanding on Israel’s expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank after weeks of locking horns over the issue. The administration in Washington has called for a full freeze on settlements, a demand Israel has so far rejected.
“It’s clear that if Obama wants to advance something on Iran, and on the Israeli-Palestinian front, he will need to reach a modus vivendi with Israel, and that will require someone who knows the Israelis well,” said Aaron David Miller, a former peace negotiator who has written extensively on attempts by the United States to promote Middle East peace. Miller called Ross’s appointment “smart policy and smart politics,” and noted it would “put someone who understands Israel in a position close to the president.”
Ross does not support expanding settlements or allowing Israel to build freely within settlement blocks in the West Bank. In his previous positions as chief peace negotiator under Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, Ross spoke with Israelis about the need to freeze settlement activity in order to avoid prejudging the final borders of the two states and to demonstrate good will.
But Ross may be more in tune with those calling on the Obama administration to ease pressure on Israel. In a June 29 opinion article in The Washington Post headlined “End the Spat With Israel,” columnist Jackson Diehl called the administration’s insistence on a full settlement freeze “a loser” and argued that the United States should seize the opportunity created by the upheaval in Iran to “creep away from the corner into which it has painted itself in the Arab-Israeli peace process.”
Stanley Sheinbaum’s Meetings – close friend of Ross and Clintons
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Incredible redux. Dennis Ross was in this position during the Clinton administration, and was the one person responsible for creating the “generous offer” hoax to blame Arafat for the Camp David failure.
That was bad news, but with Rahm Emanuel indicating that Obama will not take a proactive role in the peace talks, those talks are pretty much finished.
I suspect that Netanyahu will blow the lid off of settlement activity and increase it to beyond what it was during the Clinton era.
Apartheid here we come.
How in the hell can Clinton undermine Obama’s peace efforts when she is speaking on behalf of the administration??? Doesn’t make sense. Anyways, the Israeli’s have once again broken their backs in an effort to please the Palestinians, and once again, they seem to want one thing, the total destruction of Israel. Time to put an end to the facade that the Palestinians wants peace. As long as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are around, there will be no peace.
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… remembering your love affair with Joe Lieberman and the Clintonites. Obama, however, made a clear statement of change in his Cairo speech. The West Bank and Gaza are occupied Palestinian land by any international standard (law). Better get used to a two state solution for peace settlement of the Middle-East conflict. Stop settler terrorism on Palestinian villages of the West Bank.
“At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. (Applause.) This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop. (Applause.)
And Israel must also live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society. Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel’s security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be a critical part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress.”
The Obama/Mitchell venture failed, so now it’s the Clinton/Ross approach with love for Netanyahu and pressure on US/Israeli puppet Abbas. I shall spell the result: F A I L U R E .
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."A succint and accurate analysis imho. Instability will continue which leaves you thinking that instability is maybe a policy decision.
Jeff Halper (ICAHD) analyzed the Israeli strategy a few years ago: it calls for “managed conflict,” while the colonization continues.
The Likuds are intent on having it all. Clinton bombed Serbia when they wanted it all, but expect anyone in this government to fuck with Israel.
No, and I am sure the media and even the people will continue their love affair with Israel whatver extremes they go to. Unfortunate and not helpful but I see genrations more of increasing Palestinian suffering.
Never forget the truth. The Palestinians forced — yes forced — the suffering Israelis to plant colonies in Palestine and to expand them to the point where they almost engulf the Palestinian territory. The Palestians continue this policy to this very day. And that’s why Mrs. Clinton rightfully goes around moaning and complaining that dear husband’s (and her) noble plans for the Palestinians were sabotaged by the very people they were meant to help. Such ungratefulness is without parallel. This is snark? Ha! No. Read it again. This is the truth according to the U.S. Does the U.S. recognize the colonies as illegal? I wonder.