Monday, July 05, 2010

Hint?

Reported:

President Barack Obama would hint at US acceptance of ultimate Israeli control over the major settlement blocs and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would indicate he would extend the settlement construction freeze in the West Bank in all areas outside of those blocs, according to ideas raised in Jerusalem as a way to move the diplomatic process forward, on the eve of the prime minister’s visit to Washington.

The Jerusalem Post has learned that, according to this proposal, Obama would publicly hint at acceptance of then-US president George W. Bush’s 2004 letter to then prime minister Ariel Sharon, and Netanyahu would say that while settlement construction would continue inside the large settlement blocks, it would not be restarted outside of those areas.

Okay, two quick reactions:

1. Hint? Isn't that what certain boys do to get girls to do certain things?

2. Why can't Netanyahu hint that Israel would limit construction but not really do it?

After all, isn't that what Obama intends doing? Hinting that he'll accept the blocs but not really?


UPDATE

Ooops. Didn't read farther down in that story - another "hint":-

A change in tone was apparent last week, when Dan Shapiro, the National Security Council’s senior director for the Middle East and North Africa, held a video conference in advance of Netanyahu’s trip and said, “This is a very close relationship, a special relationship, a strategic alliance with one of our closest partners in not just the Middle East but the entire world.”

This is already a far cry from March, when – shortly after the dust-up following the announcement of new construction in northeast Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit here – State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley
hinted that the US-Israel relationship would be dependent on the peace process with the Palestinians, and when administration officials hinted that Israel’s policies were endangering the lives of US soldiers.


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