Netanyahu already has the votes for a 60 day extension. The leader of the Shas party spilled the beans.

Israel is expected to get a bag of goodies from the U.S. in exchange for this “generous” concession.

Nobody believes the Palestinians will recognize a Jewish state until a Palestinian state is also recognized. That’s why it’s called a two-state solution.

Netanyahu is an arrogant ass. “Concessions”? Recognize a Palestinian State in exchange for their recognition of Israel might work. I can’t recall any nation that had to recognize any other nation to gain its right to exist. I am certain that Kosovo did not have to recognize Serbia as a pre-condition for their statehood.

or asking for something obviously out of reach as a prelude to blame the other side for the breakdown in talks

Why is Bibi even bothering to make such an effort? This is not a serious offer so why bother what does Bibi get by pretending.

Netanyahu is trying to shape public opinion (outside Israel) to justify the bag of goodies that Obama is going to bestow on Israel after the election. The argument goes, “We asked the Palestinians for a concession and they didn’t give it to us, so we had to get something from the Americans.”

Stephen Walt calls this a new low in Middle East diplomacy.

Sorry you’re having a bit of a bummer of a day, David, and I’m not trying to pile on, but here’s another one. Unbelievable that The Bee did this.

Yeah, Obama is a wimp on domestic politics and he gets rolled on the international scene. Rewarding failure seems to be the Obama administration’s motto.

Maybe to some this sounds innocuous, but without defining the “Jewish state” it would be nearly impossible to offer recognition.

DDay… My man…! Please realize that even the Jews can’t truly define what a ‘Jewish State’ is…! I mean really…! You do know that the obnoxious ‘loyalty oath’ won’t even be required of Israeli-born Jews…? 8-(

Either way, it doesn’t bode well for the future of Middle East peace,

Ugh, there were Middle East talks before I was born. There were Middle East peace talks when I was in grade school. There were Middle East peace talks when I was in high school, college, the Army, throughout my 20′s, throughout my 30′s, throughout my 40′s, and now in my 50′s. And there will be Middle East peace talks after I die.

So damned tired of it. Both sides deserve each other.

If the Palestinians had agreed to this latest demand, Netanyahu would have moved the goal posts again. That’s what they do. Now he can throw up his hands and scream that you can’t negotiate with Palestinians and Obama will double aid to his country.

Such. Bullshit.

Boot on your face, forever, Palestinians and world. That’s our final offer.

All the while the Settlers continue building in the West Bank, and, the remote-controlled machine gun nests are ever-vigilant along the Gaza border…! 8-(

Bibi doesn’t care whether they recognize the state of Israel or not. He’s still holding all the cards.

curious

I agree such a concession should be part of final status talks – but to ask for it now does not seem too out of line. What it does is lock in the Taba arrangement of a few thousand (perhaps 50,000) humanitarian “right of return to original home” only, with the remainder being “right of return compensation” – and thus having the “Jewish” state of Israel staying Jewish.

It is not a big give up for the Palestinians, unless they really think they can get agreement with Israel, or that the world can force Israel, to go into a “one state dominated by Islamic Arabs called Israel” conclusion of the talks.

Moving the goal posts is a mid-east tradition – which is why I always was not sure as to what was agreed to in my purchases in Arab countries – and perhaps that fact is reason enough to reject Bibi’s offer. But accepting his offer was not that big a deal if we really are on the road to a two state solution.

Yep. Here’s Netanyahu’s father revealing this fact about Benji:

In a controversial interview with Israel’s Channel II News, the father of Prime Minister Netanyahu, historian Benzion Netanyahu, says that his son does not support a Palestinian state. The elder Netanyahu claims that the Prime Minister told him he deliberately placed impossible conditions before the Palestinians.

Here are excerpts from the interview. When asked if his son really changed his position concerning a Palestinian state, the 100 year-old Netanyahu unequivocally answered: (translation mine)

“He does not support. He supports such conditions that they (the Arabs) will never accept it. That is what I heard from him. I didn’t propose these conditions, he did. They will never accept these conditions. Not one of them.”

I should note that Hamas wants an Islamic state that has Sharia law – perhaps Bibi could agree to accepting that as the definition of the Palestinian state. Of course most Palestinians do not agree that that is the direction they want the new state to go in. Indeed only 3 Arab states have Sharia law now.

So damned tired of it. Both sides deserve each other.

This just angered me. Do you think the Palestinians are tired of it? Guess they “deserved” to be displaced, have their homes bulldozed and possesions stolen, herded into internment camps, forced to live as a sub species in their own country and pray they dont get ethinically cleansed.

I agree – Bibi’s initial conditions of Islands of Arab control was ridiculous.

However I believe these talks – if they get off the ground – will follow Taba.

ANYTHING Bibi proposes should be REJECTED OUTRIGHT until the offer stipulates IMMEDIATE HALTS to ALL settlement activity. If not – pound sand Bibi…

That’s one way to look at it.

And sorry if I angered you. Wasn’t my intent.

What his father is saying is that Bibi is not now, nor ever was, in support of a two state solution, and therefore demands concessions that he knows the Palestinians could never accept.

And the fact Bibi was recently recorded on video bragging to a settler about how he deceived the US in a way that destroyed the Oslo Agreement is very revealing about the games he plays to circumvent a two state solution.

Look at his actions on the ground, and ask yourself if they are the actions of someone who is serious about peace. He’s currently ethnically cleansing East Jerusalem and building new settlement housing in the W. Bank. It’s all one big charade.

Of course most Palestinians do not agree that that is the direction they want the new state to go in.

How about Israel releases the bulk of the latest, Palestinian Legislative Council members from Israeli prisons… Particularly, all the PFLP and Hamas, popularly elected members, and let them decide their own future…? Deal…? 8-(

watertiger is upstairs!
Late Night: The Wheels Come Off the Crazy Train

The Palestinians get suckered every time by the Israelis. The best strategy for them is to ignore Israeli provocations – like continuing settlement activity – and keep their eyes on the prize. The Palestinians allow the Israelis to control them at every turn using this knee-jerk settlement walkout reaction.

The peace talks need to be between the U.S. and Iran. Together they could impose a peace on Israel and the Palestinians.

Partisan cheerleading will never help this situation. Then again, you blindly support the completely unreasonable demands of the side holding all the cards, so that probably doesn’t matter to you.

I’ll second his calling out your comment as unacceptably glib. You didn’t have to post anything. Something tells me I can find comments of yours on threads here where you invest a whole lot more understanding in issues that don’t really reach the life-or-death level. Try to understand the frustration.

A post on Haaretz had an interesting take on this.

In response to Israel’s bribery of Obama–a 2 month partial freeze in exchange for billions in aid and diplomatic support–Abbas should approach Obama with this offer: we agree to take the worthless freeze off the table totally if the US will agree to give Palestine 1/2 of what it was willing to give Israel for the same deal.

Exactly what is the intent of such a message. I have been meaning to ask you before, and I surely don’t want to disrupt this thread. But I am curious how your statement fits into the general texture of the diary and the commenters. Thanks.

David,

Sorry, you can’t lay this totally at the feet of the Republican Party. Democrats, as well as Republicans, both play to the Israeli lobby, again, another non-story. Why is it that Firedoglakers continue to try to take policies that both Democrats and Republicans both agree and strictly adhere to and try and pretend that they are solely the province of the Republican Party?