On Bibi And The Cathedral Vs. Israel (originally published 25 December)
Great article in the New York Times for those who know how to read between the lines.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/24/world/middleeast/trump-may-complicate-israeli-diplomacy.html
I’d like to provide a bit of context, and then comment on select bits.
Context Part 1: 98% of US foreign policy is made by unelected and unfireable permanent civil servants at State and the CIA, as well as various think tanks and institutions which are endowed by multibillionaires. The latter include Brookings, CFR, etc. There is complete mind meld between these two groups, and people shuffle back and forth between them, which can be seen in this article.
Context Part 2: The Israeli mainstream right, meaning, Likud (Bibi), Yisrael Beitenu (Liberman) and Bayit Yehudi (Bennett) are the State’s controlled opposition. A safety valve to release the pressure coming from the Jewish people for a leadership which actually represents its values and interests. None of these guys is further to the right than the UC Berkeley College Republicans, or anyone with his own show on Fox News. The last thing they want is to be given free reign to implement the rhetoric that got them elected. And they certainly do not want an actual Israeli right wing party to emerge. Not that such a party would not be bribed and threatened into playing ball, but that would take a lot of energy. These guys want an Israeli political spectrum/Overton Window where they are the “extreme” right end.
And now, select bits:
‘“It doesn’t take a lot to imagine an American move that could provoke violence on the ground or just demonstrations on the ground with potential to become violent,” said Tamara Cofman Wittes, a former State Department official who is now at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy. “And that would not only create an Israeli-Palestinian crisis, but it would create a broader Israeli-Arab crisis.”’
This is a pure DC foreign policy apparatchik speaking with forked tongue. “Nice country you’ve got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.” Translation: we will use our money and influence to launch another Arab Spring, and this time, you will be the target.
‘“Israeli leaders have used American pressure as an excuse to avoid doing something they really don’t want to do but are being pressured to do by coalition members,” said Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Israel teaching at Princeton University. If Mr. Trump advances views to the right of Mr. Netanyahu, “this will put the prime minister in an awkward position with no excuses for not doing what right-wingers want him to do,” Mr. Kurtzer said.’
Kurtzer is mentioned in Robert Kaplan’s excellent book, The Arabists, as one of the Jews in the State Department that the other State guys could trust to represent American interests over Jewish ones. Here, he’s speaking the truth: Bibi is not a rightist and has zero desire to implement anything he said to get elected.
‘Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said in a conference call sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’
There’s another one of those governmental NGOs.
‘Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, known as a hard-liner, said at a recent Brookings conference that there were other pressing issues aside from moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital.’
Brookings is, of course, another informal part of the US government. One of those parts that has more latitude in terms of taking money from billionaires and disbursing it as needed to bribe foreign politicians and domestic journalists. As well as anyone else whom State might find it inconvenient to bribe. Basically, if you think about the relationship between the New York City government, the Italian American Civil Rights League and Joe Colombo, you’ve got the idea.
‘While the right may press for more settlement construction, the Trump administration could endorse keeping any new housing within established blocs, said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“That would be a major victory for Netanyahu,” Mr. Satloff said. “And if linked to real suspension of growth outside the blocs, it may even advance Israeli ties with Sunnis.”’
There’s another one of those governmental NGOs. Dear President-elect Trump, when you get into office, please remember how much potentially valuable DC-area real estate these vermin are occupying, and how much they hate you. Surely you can use eminent domain to deport them to, say, South Dakota? They can talk to NYT reporters by phone from the snow-blown outskirts of Rapid City. That’s without discussing various helicopter-based options-I am a humanitarian, after all.
In any case, Mr. Satloff is correct-for Bibi, limiting Jewish growth in Yehuda and the Shomron would be a victory.
