"Is it just me, or does anyone else think last week’s drama surrounding Vice President Joe Biden’s supposed “embarrassment” and Hillary Clinton’s rage over an Israeli decision to build 1600 apartments in East Jerusalem seems manufactured?
I have struggled mightily and sincerely to keep an open mind, and my respect for the Presidency–as well as my sincere hope that President Obama will do the right things vis a vis U.S. security and U.S. allies–have prevented me from being too critical of him thus far about anything, including foreign policy. But last week’s brouhaha struck me as unfair towards Israel. It also struck me initially as downright weird, and given deeper thought, as potentially ominous.
At the center of the controversy is the decision–announced by a bureaucratic entity, Israel’s Interior Ministry–to approve construction of 1,600 new homes for Israelis in East Jerusalem. This announcement, which was made during Vice President Biden’s visit to discuss the “peace process,” unleashed a tsunami of anger and reprimand by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and VP Biden towards Israel. Or so we are to believe.
In the name of diplomatic protocol, Clinton berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 45 minutes. Apparently, her words suggested that this announcement of apartment building construction in Israel’s capital city threatens the U.S.-Israel relationship, because she not only called it “insulting” to the U.S., she used the opportunity to question Israel’s commitment to its relationship with America.
Hmmm. Could there be some projection going on here?"
No comments:
Post a Comment