You’ve got to hand it to those Israelis: they wrote the book on chutzpah. What the rest of the world can see with its own two eyes, simply doesn’t exist as far as Tzipi Livni is concerned. Humanitarian crisis? There is no fuel, little food, no medical care, and your children can be killed for the crime of venturing outside to empty the garbage. What humanitarian crisis?
“There is no humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, she said, “and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce.”
The Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly on the French proposal, called it “unrealistic,” “hasty” and bordering on “offensive,” saying that Israel was already allowing relief supplies into Gaza every day.
Imagine a nation which is systematically vaporizing an entire urban population center, killing 400 in the process having the gall to say that a ceasefire proposal was “offensive.” That takes balls.
I’ve always been struck by the solipcism of this statement common to all Israeli ministers and U.S. officials when talking about Hamas:
Ms. Livni has emphasized that Israel will not accept Hamas’s rule as legitimate unless the organization fulfills conditions set by the international community, including recognizing Israel’s right to exist, renouncing all violence and accepting previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians — conditions that Hamas has so far rejected.
Does it strike anyone else that Livni is essentially saying that Israel will not recognize Hamas until Hamas recognizes Israel? It’s a game of chicken in which one side proclaims the other side is evil because the other guy won’t do what you won’t do either. Which one is going to blink first and recognize the other?
Of course this is all sophistry because Livni knows that negotiations are the place where such bilateral agreements are worked out if Israel was truly interested in having Hamas recognize Israel. And the last thing that Israel wants is for Hamas to do so. That would test Israel’s sincerity to the limit. If (and Hamas is not the type of group that will give Israel this opportunity) Hamas were to recognize Israel, the latter would find some other new condition Hamas had failed to fulfill and this would be the newest failing of Hamas which prevents Israel from recognizing it.
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Implicit in Hamas’ long-term hudna proposal of a year or so ago was a recognition of Israel in the pre-1967 borders, and promptly came along the new demand for recognition of Israel’s “right to exist”.
And last night Livni was on the news declaring they’ll consider negotiating a ceasefire when Hamas stops firing missiles. That’s the G.W. Bush definition of “negotiation” all over again: the desired result of the negotiation as a condition of the same.
I will ask my friends for donations Richard.
“That’s the G.W. Bush definition of “negotiation” all over again: the desired result of the negotiation as a condition of the same.”
That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard since forever. We need less ideologues and more savvy in diplomacy.
If Israel thinks that such a massive offensive on Gaza, will lead them to victory (perhaps in the short run, yes), but they are putting their bare hands in a cage full of venomous scorpions. Such brutal acts of violence in with many innocents have been killed, will spawn a new generation of terrorists, whose sole aim will be to destroy Israel. This will happen across the Middle East and around the world who believe that such acts of violence from Israel’s extreme use of force, are unpardonable.