Israeli government continues to block the sale of Boeing AWACS to Turkey

The sale is part of a $1.6 billion Boeing contract with Turkey.  

U.S.-Pakistan relations and the drone affair

William deB. Mills offers several noteworthy observations on the U.S.-Pakistan-Iran triangle in light of Iran's downing of the U.S. drone.  He reflects on the declining U.S.-Pakistan reaction, the Pakistani reaction to Iran coup de theatre and the prospects for an Iran-Pakistan alliance based on shared antipathy to U.S. goals, complementary economic interests, and worldviews.

More on the legacy of Dennis Ross, Peace Processor

UNESCO votes 107-14 with 52 abstentions to admit Palestine. US

The admission of Palestine to UNESCO will prompt cuts in US funding of the agency.  These punitive cuts will hurt UNESCO, but they also serve to illustrate how isolated the US has become on the issue. A U.S. official stated that "there are consequences" if the vote approves Palestinian membership in UNESCO, but there are also consequences of the US being in splendid isolation with Israel. 
What remains is for Palestine to sign and ratify the UNESCO constitution.


[Added: To minimize the reality of auto-ostracism by the U.S., expect to see a stream of pieces, such as this one, extolling Israel's value as a friend of the U.S.]

Israel, where the average (non-Arab) citizen lives the good life at the level of a modern EU citizen, is coming hat in hand looking for an addtional $20 billion from a not so flush Daddy Warbucks.

US vetoes UNSC resolution describing Israel's illegal settlements as illegal while accusing Israel of violating "international commitments"

Ambassador Susan Rice:

"Our opposition to the resolution before this Council today should therefore not be misunderstood to mean we support settlement activity. On the contrary, we reject in the strongest terms the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity. For more than four decades, Israeli settlement activity in territories occupied in 1967 has undermined Israel’s security and corroded hopes for peace and stability in the region. Continued settlement activity violates Israel’s international commitments, devastates trust between the parties, and threatens the prospects for peace."

An abstention would have sent a far stronger and far more appropriate message to Israel. Rice's statement will cause some indigestion, but the resolution would have facilitated additional sanctions.

[Added: text of the vetoed resolution.]

Senator Rand Paul--time to end US aid to Israel

A sensible commentary on the stupid season that followed the death of M.H. Fadlallah

Haim Saban profiled in New Yorker

Congressman Delahunt blows the whistle on graceless Ayalon

Danny Ayalon, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, has once again demonstrated his diplomatic grace. Ayalon honed his skills as the Israeli Ambassador in Washington. In January, he was forced to apologize twice (the first apology was rejected) for his attempt to demean the Turkish Ambassador to Israel. Ayalon's charm offensive continues. He blocked efforts by U.S. Representative Bill Delahunt to hold meetings with Israeli officials. Ayalon, who channels Jabotinsky, was miffed that Delahunt was visiting under the auspices of J Street, the sensible alternative to AIPAC. Ayalon, it should be recalled, spurns the notion that Israel is occupying the West Bank, which he glosses as "disputed territory". He views J Street as "anti-Israel", a perspective shared by the Prime Minister of Israel.

[A bit more on the Delahunt mission here.

["(J-Street) has sparked questions over whether American Jews, who voted overwhelmingly for Obama, should push Israel to accept risks as they bargain with Palestinian leaders.

"“If you are not living in Israel, if you are not serving in the army . . . is that a morally tenable posture to take?’’ said Robert Leikind, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Boston office."

Mr. Leikind thinks U.S. citizens who "really" support Israel have no moral right to a view on what U.S. policy should be vis-a-vis the the Arab-Israeli conflict unless they become Israelis. This is an absurd stance that would disqualify almost any opinion on how the U.S. spends its resources and protects its resources in the world. J-Street argues that the U.S. has a keen interest in a settlement of the core conflict, and if the U.S. needs to use some muscle to implement a solution, then so be it. Mr. Leikind doesn't like that stance.]

Coming: the week of February 8, 2010--Israel and Palestine - Two States for Two Peoples: If Not Now, When?

The original web-launch was delayed because of some file conversion problems. Be patient please.

Turkey has provided an excellent example for the U.S.

The U.S. enjoys a multitude of means through which to signal its seriousness to Palestinians and Israelis about its goal of ending the occupation and fostering a two-state solution. Leveraging U.S. influence vis-a-vis the Palestinian side is already standard practice, but the tendency has been to stick to rhetoric and diplomatic pressure vis-a-vis Israel. Thus, prior to the disappointing Obama-'Abbas-Netanyahu meeting in New York, the U.S. went ahead with a planned naval exercise with the Israeli military rather than postponing it. As the recent Turkish example illustrates, canceling military exercises pushes Israel's angst meter. Given the extensive ties between the Pentagon and the Israeli military there are many, many ways to signal displeasure, ranging from sending a major instead instead of a general to a planned meeting, postponing joint military exercises, or delaying or even canceling procurement decisions.

If President Obama is serious, he should learn from Turkey's timely wake-up call.

Relevant earlier post.

Stephen Walt's dour assessment of the prospects for a two state solution in Israel-Palestine

Stephen M. Walt -- Will Obama Settle for Failure in the Middle East? - washingtonpost.com

Walt is no doubt correct that the Israeli Prime Minister is playing a familiar string-along game, while the colonization of the West Bank continues relentlessly. For all the hopeful predictions of Netanyahu's "pragmatism" there is no reason to doubt either his deep-seated committed to Zionist Revisionism or his hostility to the premise of an independent Palestine existing side-by-side with Israel.

Walt is also correct to suggest that President Obama is going to have to turn up the heat considerably to attain his stated goal of a two state solution. Will Obama be willing to pay the political price, and is the political price quite as high as Walt suggests? As for the former, we don't know yet. Obama has played his hand very coolly. As for the latter question, might it be that, notwithstanding the formidable AIPAC, the political price has come down a bit. Pro-peace supporters of Israel have supported Obama's firm stance on the settlements. There is evidence to suggest that Israel's image in the eyes of its liberal U.S. supporters has suffered over the past few years. People who freely support to Israel in the past, are now raising questions about Israel's commitment to peace and human rights. (This article in Forward is illustrative of a shift.)

Despite the predictable knee-jerk condemnations of the Goldstone commission's important report, Israel's credibility as a state ready to respect Palestinian rights is in question. Notwithstanding sharp official U.S. comments on the document, the hard-hitting report further diminishes Israel's claims to a morally superior vantage point (remember Barak: "the IDF is most moral army in the world.") The Gaza war report also underlines Israel's dependence on U.S. diplomatic protection, which Netanyahu might be well briefed to remember.

In terms of the dynamics of U.S.-Israeli relations, no Israeli government can afford to jeopardize its relationship with the United States. Although Obama may be unpopular in Israel, there is little doubt that his pressure on Israel has caused many Israelis to worry about the consequences of defying the U.S. president.

Leading Likudnik urges boycott of the 4th of July celebration

Added: Similar tune.

Anthony Shadid: Popular culture legacies of the US occupatation of Iraq

CQ: FISA wiretap reveals Congresswoman (D) Jane Harman offered to lobby Justice Dept to go light on accused AIPAC spies

Volunteer agents who subordinate U.S. security and foreign policy interests to those of Israel are not uncommon in Washington. One such agent was convicted spy Larry Franklin who had a longtime reputation among Pentagon insiders as guy who would "empty his desk" into the satchels of visiting pro-Israel lobbyists. In 2006, Franklin was sentenced to twelve years in prison for playing Santa with classified documents.

Harman was not engaged in espionage, but she was offering to [help] lower the price of espionage intended to help Israel. In her oath of office, Harman pledged to "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution of the United States. As the wiretap apparently reveals, she may have failed to uphold her oath

These charges first surfaced in 2006, but they were stifled by then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Now that it is known that Harman's malfeasance was captured on tape, it is clear that Gonzales blocked the investigation to avoid undermining a key Democratic ally. Harman worked hard to rationalize and protect the Bush administration broad domestic spying activities.

Update:

TPM raises the question that is on all our minds, namely why did the FISA wiretap get leaked now? I agree with the hunch that the Obama administration may be playing hardball with Israel's new Prime Minister Netanyahu, and with rightwing pro-Israeli lobbyists.

The evanescent two-state solution for Palestine and Israel

Hillary Clinton has garnered some headlines during her visit to Israel for emphasizing the inevitiability of a two-state solution. In contrast, incoming Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu aims to focus on improving economic conditions for Palestinians living in occupied West Bank, while continuing the colonization project that aims to make a viable Palestinian state impossible, except in the minds of gullible western politicians. The Palestinians are certainly not gullible, and with about 500,000 Israelis living either in East Jerusalem or in interconnected settlement clusters in the West Bank, they know that the tipping point is not far away if it has not already arrived.

Here is what Clinton had to say in press conference with Foreign Minister Livni on March 3, 2009 (the conference should be read in full):

"It is our assessment, as I expressed yesterday and again today, that eventually the inevitability of working toward a two-state solution seems inescapable. That doesn’t mean that we don’t respect the opinions of others who see it differently. But from my perspective, and from the perspective of the Obama Administration, time is of the essence on a number of issues, not only on the Iranian threat. We happen to believe that moving toward the two-state solution, step by step, is in Israel’s best interest. But obviously, it’s up to the people and the government of Israel to decide how to define your interests."

Even considering the subteties of diplomatic language, "the inevitability of working toward a two-state solution seems inescapable" sounds to me just like the "successful" incremental diplomacy of now Special Adviser to the Secretary Dennis Ross.

Meantime, did anyone hear a word from Clinton about Israeli settlements?

Dennis Ross appointed advisor to Hillary

In contrast to the appointments of Mitchell and Holbrooke who are "presidential envoys," Ross will be a "special advisor" on the Gulf to the Secretary of State. He will be tasked with coordinating Gulf policy, including U.S. policy toward Iran, but since he reports to the Secretary and not to the President the key nexus remains the NSC advisor General Jones. In short, the position handed to Ross has been whittled down considerably since January when fawning journalists reported that Ross would be a minister plenipotentiary for Iran. Well-placed stories promoting the a much grander role for Ross were countered by a stream of private recommendations to the President that this would be a big mistake, especially if Obama was serious about a dialogue with Iran.

Dennis Ross appointed special U.S. advisor on Gulf | Politics | Reuters

The Gaza War: Antecedents and Consequences

The article is also available en Español.

Army War College study of Hamas

The study was published four days prior to the Israeli onslaught against Gaza.  The author is a serious analyst at the Strategic Studies Institute.