I totally agree with President Obama's comments on how this decision will complicate peace negotiations in the future. Decisions like these make me wonder, what the real motives of Israeli politicians are. In the article it says the decision came at this time because of bureaucracy. Decisions like these make me wonder if Israeli really wants peace.
An interesting development, definitely. While I do agree that the announcement is far from helpful, I think it's still important to differentiate between building in Jerusalem and settlements elsewhere along/in the West Bank. Sure, it seems to make a similar statement, but Jerusalem is very much its own issue, as well.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Obama-Netanyahu go, it's probably safe to say Bibi isn't quite as intimidated as he might be... The Netanyahu family as a whole is, if memory serves, known to be more hawkish (as is Likud), and I wouldn't doubt that he sees Obama as less than a viable threat or concern [perhaps the trouble of attempting to appeal more broadly to bipartisanship is that you seem to lack a firm stance or definite power- particularly after the recent elections...]
After reading about his last tenure of Prime Minister, I think Netanyahu is going to be harder to bring back to the table. He learned some lessons, and looks like he is being a but more hard-line in his policies.
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