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July 11th, 2009
Netanyahu Sr. Lets the Cat Out of the Bag
My latest:
When a top sportsman wants to express opinions that might get him into trouble with his employers, his father often pops up in the media to reveal what his son is really thinking. In the same way, while Benjamin Netanyahu would risk incurring Washington’s wrath if he were to admit the cynicism behind his apparent embrace of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his father has no such qualms.
On Israeli TV last week, the 100-year-old historian and stalwart of the Israeli right, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, was blunt when asked whether his son now supports the creation of a Palestinian state: “He does not support it. He supports such conditions that they [the Palestinians] will never accept it. That’s what I heard from him. I didn’t propose these conditions, he did. They will never accept these conditions. Not one of them.”
Click here to read the whole thing
Posted by Tony at 4:25 pm | Link | Tags: Situation Report
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5 Responses to “Netanyahu Sr. Lets the Cat Out of the Bag”
Certainly not a surprising story. But I would like to add that I heard something similar from Ehud Barak. Barak of course is “credited” with making a “generous offer” to the Palestinians for statehood in 2000 that Arafat rejected, after which he launched the second intafada to win in violence what he was not able to win at the bargaining table. It was always obvious that this narrative was garbage in almost every respect, but I heard it exposed from the man himself in 2004.
At the time, I was engaged in the masochistic practice of occasionally listening to Limbaugh and Hannity on the radio. One day, Hannity’s guest was Barak, and Hannity critically asked him why he had offered the Palestinians a state - wasn’t that a reward for terrorism? Barak answered that he had imposed conditions that he knew were unacceptable to the Palestinians, so his offer was not really serious. I thought the admission was remarkable. I believe the date was 4/2/04.
Of course, it’s obvious that Bibi is trying the same thing, but I’m not sure if Daddy’s remarks were meant to assuage the fears of the right wing without risking friction with Washington, or if it was a kind of Joe Biden loose cannon moment. I suspected the latter with Barak’s admission.
>>>Having plunged into the issue with such vigour and clarity of vision, Mr Obama may not be willing to accept defeat. But staying the course will require a willingness to fight battles that most US presidents have preferred to avoid.<<<
If Obama had not previously anticipated Israeli and fierce Zionist opposition to his I/P policies and a two state solution, than he deserves to be defeated without mercy and pity.
But I suspect that will not be the case. The president is a shrewd and clever politician who is adept at knitting together a support base of diverse interests. Nor are his skills limited to oratory and a well crafted public demeanor, but also an official posture radiating leadership & stateliness rarely seen in US presidents that disarms his critics.
Israelis can bluster and be intransigent all they want. Any strong & confident US president has an abundance of tools in the kit to make extremists and fanatics gnash their teeth and suffer depressed and miserable lives. All he has to do is act.
reminds me of rahm emmanuals sweet father also an israeli when asked if his son will favor israel he said “ofcourse what ishe an arab?
The picture above is from an Israeli newscast which was filmed shortly before the last election. In the interview with both Netanyahu’s, the Prime Minister (not his father) says:
Benjamin Netanyahu: I think that anyone who has eyes in his head understands that today any settlement that will be evacuated will be grabbed by the bitter enemies of the State of Israel.
Question: So you can say that the Likud [Netanyahu’s party] will not evacuate settlements during its term of office?
Netanyahu: Yes.
Question: Will not evacuate?
Netanyahu: Indeed.
It is on utube in Hebrew here. The quote is at 3:55.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-y1xUfxCUc
More tough words from Tough Tony. How much did you get paid for this article by The Nation Tony? You moral paragon. Let’s see — the Nation is owned by the royal family of the United Arab Emirates. These are people who, a) don’t believe in democracy and have never held an election; b) hold the death penalty for gays; c) practice a form of modern day slavery known as kafela. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Hope you enjoyed spending your blood money. Or should that be blood libel money since you earned it slandering a fellow Jew.
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