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27 Mar 09

Mondoweiss: Netanyahu and Lieberman cut 'secret deal' to finish off the two-state solution

www.philipweiss.org/...off-the-twostate-solution.html - Preview

The US and Israel are reportedly at loggerheads at the secret plan unveiled by major Israeli daily "Haaretz" of a plan for 3,000 new illegal settlements between Jerusalem and settlement Maale Adumim. - leftablaze on 2009-03-27

Ha'aretz is reporting the Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman have cut a "secret deal" to build 3,000 new illegal housing units between Jerusalem and the illegal Israeli settlement Ma'ale Adumim. These units will be in E-1, a highly contested stretch of land that Israel wants to colonize in order to control the strategic corridor connecting Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley. The map to the right (click to enlarge) from the Israeli organization Ir Amim shows the area. Israeli control of E-1 would cut the West Bank in half and make a viable Palestinian state impossible. Ha'aretz notes that "For this reason, the United States has strongly
opposed this sort of Israeli construction for more than a decade.
Israeli governments have avoided construction in this area, mostly
because of U.S. pressure." Clearly the incoming Israeli government isn't afraid of US pressure or they feel the endgame is at hand.

05 Mar 09

BELLACIAO - BASTARDIZING HISTORY: Obama’s Betrayal on Iraq - Jack Random

www.bellaciao.org/...spip.php - Preview

How then do we reconcile the chasm between the following statements offered to a contingent of marines at Camp Lejeune?

1. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."

2. “I intend to remove all US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.”

Let me be plain. If George W. Bush instead of Barack Obama offered these statements, they would be greeted with the cynicism they deserve. It is difficult to take the certainty of the first statement seriously when it already represents the compromise of a campaign pledge. The slippage is disturbing enough when you consider the additional lives it will undoubtedly cost but it only becomes more egregious when you realize that his plan calls for 30-50 thousand troops to remain as a residual force.
How then do we reconcile the chasm between the following statements offered to a contingent of marines at Camp Lejeune?

1. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."

2. “I intend to remove all US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.”

Let me be plain. If George W. Bush instead of Barack Obama offered these statements, they would be greeted with the cynicism they deserve. It is difficult to take the certainty of the first statement seriously when it already represents the compromise of a campaign pledge. The slippage is disturbing enough when you consider the additional lives it will undoubtedly cost but it only becomes more egregious when you realize that his plan calls for 30-50 thousand troops to remain as a residual force.

26 Feb 09

Israel's Netanyahu fails to lure rivals to cabinet

news.yahoo.com/...mideastisraelpolitics - Preview

Although he can theoretically count on support from fellow right-wingers for a 65-strong bloc in the 120-member parliament, Netanyahu is believed to favour a broad coalition that will have a better chance of surviving in the notoriously unstable world of Israeli politics.

"He is terrified by the possibility that he will have to present a narrow government to Barack Obama," the Maariv newspaper wrote. "It keeps him awake at night."

Although Likud won 27 seats in the election -- one less than Kadima -- Netanyahu has been tasked with forming the next cabinet as he stands a better chance of cobbling together a coalition by an April 3 deadline.

The former premier favours a broad alliance over a purely right-wing coalition that would be unlikely to last a full term and would put Israel at odds with Obama's administration.
- So the old firm of Olmert hands over to the new face of settler colonialism - Netanyahu - himself an old fox cold warrior.
  This article is typical of the mush of commercial coverage, presenting Kadima as a "centrist" party and Barak's Likud as an "responsible oppositon". This is code for the Gaza nightmare - no acceptace for the democratically elected government of Palestine, the fact Obama might actually grill them is a fascinating diversion, because I doubt he can stop a repeat of last month if pushed! - on 2009-02-26
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