(Jerusalem Post) David Horovitz - Prime Minister Netanyahu has always evinced an ideological commitment to the growth of the settlement enterprise as a prime national interest. But he also fully appreciated the irreplaceable strategic value of the U.S.-Israel relationship. President Obama was emphatically of the opinion that Israel needed to call a settlement freeze in order to generate goodwill for Arab states to bolster international leverage against Tehran, and goodwill for some of those same Arab states to begin the process of normalizing their ties with Israel. Netanyahu may not believe for a moment that a settlement freeze will have any impact on Arab states' attitudes to Iran. He may be skeptical that a settlement freeze will prompt significant progress on Arab normalization with Israel. But in order to prevent a crisis in ties with Washington, while placing the negotiating ball firmly in the Palestinian and Arab court, Netanyahu made his choice. Presumably, the U.S. is now trying to twist Arab arms as firmly as it twisted his.
2009-11-26 08:22:29Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive