Obama Administration Demands A Halt To Reckless Honesty By Israel

By: John Caruso

For years now (and with the full support of the United States), the Israeli government has been stealing as much Palestinian land as it can in every way it can, while simultaneously pretending to negotiate seriously with whatever co-opted entity happens to be claiming to represent Palestinian interests at the moment.  The technical term for this is the "peace process".  The goal has always been 1) to delay a final settlement as long as possible, thus allowing for the theft of the maximum amount of territory, or failing that, 2) to leave the Palestinians with meaningless administrative responsibility for the tiniest and most worthless possible parcels of land.  The technical term for this highly undesirable but increasingly unavoidable latter outcome is the "two-state solution".  And continuing the "peace process" in pursuit of a "two-state solution" is critical to keeping international criticism and public pressure for a genuine resolution of the issue at manageable levels.

Key to all of this is constant lying, of course, and Israeli governments have generally understood this necessity and deployed the proper euphemisms.  But like frothing right-wingers everywhere, the Netanyahu government (and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in particular) has shown a distressing tendency to just blurt out the unvarnished truth.  And the U.S., in its role as the "honest broker" (another technical term), has finally had enough of this irresponsible behavior:

The Obama Administration has signalled a tougher approach towards Israel ahead of fresh talks on the Middle East peace process by insisting it must endorse the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"Israel has to work toward a two-state solution," declared Vice-President Joe Biden today in a speech to the annual conference of a powerful pro-Israel lobby group in Washington.

And it appears that the message is getting through:

Less than a month after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman publicly declared all peace talks with the Palestinians were dead, the controversial Yisraeli Beiteinu head used a visit to Rome to insist that the government was dedicated to producing a peace deal with the Palestinians, and said he was confident that the Netanyahu government would "reach a secure and definitive peace" with not just the Palestinians, but all the Arab nations as well.

Further pointing to a dramatic shift in the hawkish government’s official position, Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon says that, despite Lieberman’s previous claims to the contrary, the government would abide by the commitments of previous governments and would pursue a two-state solution.

Which is a shame, since I was enjoying this rare truth opening and hoped it might continue for a few more months.  But to the relief of the "honest broker", it looks like the "peace process" towards a "two-state solution" will soon be back in full swing.

— John Caruso