The British and Israeli press tend to describe these events more colorfully, not necessarily a bad thing. "Humiliated" seems like a bit of a reach. But it is true that the Administration dispensed with the usual diplomatic niceties - there was no photo-op, no joint statement.
In and of itself, so what. But it points to the fact that the Executive Branch has a lot of levers on the Israeli government that do not require the approval of Congress, and people in ruling circles in Israel know that very well. The Administration is not deploying all of the levers at its disposal, but it is deploying some levers. Some Arab observers in the region who have been critical of US policy see a real shift. We'll be able to see soon enough: whether there is an objective change in conditions for Palestinians on the ground. One of the reported US demands has been an easing of the blockade on Gaza. It should be fairly easy to detect whether that amounts to anything. On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > for what it's worth: > >>Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu left the United States humiliated >>on Wednesday after a disastrous trip to Washington that Israeli newspapers >>have described as "a hazing in stages." Obama reportedly left the prime >>minister to eat dinner by himself on Tuesday, and despite planning to stay an >>extra day, Netanyahu returned to Israel early on Wednesday. According to the >>Times of London, Obama has been enraged with Netanyahu since the Israeli >>leader overshadowed Biden's peace-building trip to the region by announcing >>the construction of 1,600 new houses in a contested part of East Jerusalem. >>While the prime minister presented Obama with "a flow chart purporting to >>show that he was not be responsible [sic] for the timing of announcements," >>this evidently did not put a dent in the president's anger. Obama left the >>room and reportedly told Netanyahu that "I'm still around. … Let me know if >>there is anything new." By the end of the evening, the Israeli delegation was >>apparently so mistrustful of American officials that they chose not to use >>the phone line they had been given for fear of wiretapping.< > > from SLATE. > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] 6 minute video: highlights of the House Afghanistan debate http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/endthewar _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
