Comments on: Netanyahu to Obama: No Palestinian Peace Till Iran Dumps Nukes

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:15:57 +0000

You clearly haven’t and don’t have a clue what any Palestinian believes.

By: Shamshoon

Shamshoon — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:27:31 +0000

Why does everyone assume that a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza would be a good thing? We need only look at Gaza to see what it would really be like — a means to the end of destroying Israel by whatever means necessary. There is no serious desire among Palestinians to live in such a state peacefully beside Israel. Just ask them.

By: ittay

ittay — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:07:13 +0000

Julian,
In response to your question ““why has Bibi latched onto Iran as the bogeyman of choice?” I think he, and wll those who target him are making a mistake. He is not israel’s problems’ any more then he should be saudi, jordanian, french or german problem. here’s an interesting take from a leaing saudi paper:
Ahmadinejad was Addressing the Arabs
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=16477

By: fiddler

fiddler — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:04:25 +0000

Yossi Sarid, in a hilarious polemic, argues that sometimes evil is good for the Jews:

without Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – a wicked and confused putz – and disgusting types like him, the international community, including our friends and allies, would have long since evicted us from the stolen lands on the other side of the Green Line. The world is tired of the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Were it not for the fact that Ahmadinejad opens his big, ugly mouth at every opportunity, he would not have forced the best-governed nations to unite around a gluttonous country that refuses to release its prey; had he not ridiculed the United Nations and its Human Rights Conference in Geneva, he would not have provided the speeches of Jerusalem and Birkenau with such a wealth of lofty cliches.
It’s not at all bad to live in a world of evil. Evil purifies and excuses other evil, and sometimes evil is good for the Jews.

Finally, he has some advice for Bibi:

They say of Raful (Rafael Eitan) that at the end of the Yom Kippur War he hosted a delegation of United States congressmen on a fact-finding mission. They visited the Golan Heights and looked out over Quneitra. One guest asked with fear and trepidation whether all this destruction was absolutely necessary.

Raful let him have it: “And what did you do to the Indians?” he asked. At that the members of the delegation stopped asking questions. We have to learn from Raful, that’s exactly how Israel has to explain itself, without stuttering.

About a month from now the prime minister will go to Washington for a first meeting in the White House. When Barack Obama only begins to harass him, Netanyahu has to hit him between the eyes: And what did you do to the blacks? That will be the knockout line.

That’s my advice. Let him hit Obama where it hurts, by bringing up his wife Michelle’s mother. Then the president will fall silent, and we probably won’t hear from him for another two terms at least.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1080711.html

By: Yossi

Yossi — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:08:48 +0000

Assaf, Richard,

Here’s a more optimistic option for Bibi’s behavior. Not an explanation that is very likely, but I’ll cite it “for completeness”. Perhaps what motivates him is the realization that now is his last chance to go down in history as someone who brought peace to Israel, maybe even get a Nobel prize for that. But in order to negotiate and strike a deal, he must appear screaming and kicking as he does so, so that the coalition doesn’t disintegrate.

By: Arie Brand

Arie Brand — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:22:56 +0000

The motivation suggested by Trita Parsi’s book (see Richard’s introduction above) seems far more credible to me.

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:35:44 +0000

“why has Bibi latched onto Iran as the bogeyman of choice?”

Could it be that Iran desires the destruction of Israel and arms it’s enemies Hezbollah and Hamas?

By: Assaf

Assaf — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:15:18 +0000

….also, don’t forget that in Israeli and proxy-Israeli circles, there was this huge virulent anti-Obama campaign before the elections. I think Bibi is bought into the idea that there is some “silent majority” in America that is as deeply suspicious of Obama as these emails suggest, and that therefore he can twist Obama’s arm around this vulnerability.

I think it goes, like, totally the other way. But we’ll see.