Clinton delivers blunt message to Netanyahu on East Jerusalem
Israel 'expected to take action' to revive peace talks, U.S. Secretary of State tells prime minister in phone call.
By News Agencies Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu Hillary Clinton Israel news Middle East peaceUnited States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that his government sent a "deeply negative signal" by taking steps which undermined renewed Middle East peace talks.
Clinton telephoned Netanyahu and expressed frustration over Israel's announcement on Tuesday of new settlement construction, a move that deeply embarrassed visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and imperiled U.S. plans to launch indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Clinton told Netanyahu the announcement was a "deeply negative signal about Israel's approach to the bilateral relationship ... and had undermined trust and confidence in the peace process."
"The secretary said she could not understand how this happened, particularly in light of the United States' strong commitment to Israel's security," Crowley said.
"She made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate not just through words but through specific actions that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process," he said.
The "quartet" of Middle East peace mediators -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- on Friday issued its own condemnation of the settlement plan and said it would assess the situation at a previously scheduled meeting in Moscow next week.
"The Quartet has agreed to closely monitor developments in Jerusalem and to keep under consideration additional steps that may be required to address the situation on the ground," the group said in a statement, without providing further details.
Clinton's rebuke of Netanyahu capped a week of tense exchanges between the United States and Israel, which on Tuesday announced it was building 1,600 new settler homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem.
The announcement infuriated the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership, which threatened to pull out of U.S.-brokered indirect "proximity" talks with Israel that Washington hoped would be the first step toward relaunching full peace negotiations after more than a year.
vice President embarrassed
It also embarrassed Biden, who repeated calls for talks despite Palestinian demands that Israel first cancel the settlement project.
Crowley said U.S. Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell and Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman had made numerous calls to regional leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and underscored continued commitment to the plans for the indirect talks.
Mitchell is due to return to the region next week and U.S. officials hope the indirect talks might begin then.
Israel has so far balked at Palestinian demands that the indirect phase include talk of so-called "final status issues" including the delineation of borders, the fate of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and the status of Jerusalem.
The Obama administration wants indirect talks to cover issues of "consequence" but has yet to spell out publicly what that would entail.
Palestinians have called the settlement announcement a deliberate attempt by Netanyahu to sabotage peace talks in which he could come under pressure to trade land for a deal.
Netanyahu has said he did not know the announcement was coming and castigated his interior minister, while noting that nothing would actually be built in the area for years.
But his relationship with the Obama administration was already under heavy strain, and Clinton made clear that Washington would hold him responsible.
"We accept what Prime Minister Netanyahu has said, but by the same token he is the head of the Israeli government and ultimately is responsible for the actions of that government," Crowley said.
Daniel Levy, director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank, said the Biden visit and the settlement issue might usher in a new dynamic in the U.S.-Israel relationship.
"Perhaps America will present Israel with a real choice and with consequences for recalcitrance. Thus far, that has not been the case," he wrote in a blog for Foreign Policy magazine's website.
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PM Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in November 2009. |
| Photo by: (GPO) |
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There will never be peace in the Middle East because you are all doomed from following imaginary gods created by fools and false prophets. Peace will only be achieved if you start loving your kids, you would stop brainwashing them with religious indoctrination. There are no gods. I have not seen one shred of factual evidence that proves otherwise. The Bible, Qur'an, Torah...etc. are all lies and extreme exaggerations written by crazy people who heard voices in their head. What do you think would happen today if people say they are speaking gods words? We would all think they are crazy, so why does a few thousand years make any difference? Religion has cause AIDS to spread like wildfire, since religion doesn't endorse the use of contraceptives. Religion has created the never ending conflict between extremists following "gods" plans to kill each other, really, god wants us to kill each other? pure and utter nonsense. When will you people open your eyes?
No-ones 'God' gave Israel that land. Israel killed and threatened people to gain access. Governments whose electorate contains many religious extremists have to get a grip on them. Believing in dragons doesn't give me the right to sacrifice virgins, and reading an old book doesn't give Israelis the right to act like terrorists.
Clinton. Clinton's blunt message to Netanyahu on the future housing project,in East Jerusalem is simply beyond the pale ! (In my previous posts I had criticized the workings of this government) But this scolding goes beyond anything between two sovereign countries.And it came 3 days after the apologizes which were accepted. One has to look beyond Clinton's/Obama move. It's not unlikely that the White House found a golden opportunity to,a) lower Netanyahu's head & or demands & b)more imortantly, to silence any independent show of going it alone against Iran's Nuclear ambitions. Only the Simpleton will believe that everything rotates round a few houses in E Jerusalem. Many have fallen into a wonderful trap ! If you read Dennis Ross' book."The Missing Peace" you'll see that no love was lost between D.R.& Netanyahu. And Ross is in Obama's Administration. Food for thought.
History proved more than once "no country submit to foreigner orders ". Any gov. of israel has to explain for its people first . surprise, clinton forget all that ! It is not for a prime minster to decide without the consent of the people ! If clinton wants the present gov. of israel to collapse, this will be a repeat to what the U.S did in iran under musaddiq. It left an un-accepted legacy for the U.S.A ! Israel is a small country but in the last 60 years of its life israel proved itself to be one of the most respected countries in the world ! Something the foreign U.S secretary to remember !
Why the Obama administration wants another islamic regime in the middle east ?! It could because no arab country wants the palestinians because of their record & the US wants to dump them on the jewish state ! Israel had to wrestle with the palestinians for more than 60 years . They made israel a training ground to teach themselves the 'art' of terrorism & the killing of innocent people. Isn't that enough for one small country like israel ?! One can understand it was easy for the arab countries to dispose of the palestinians by let israel carry their burden, but isn't also true that a palestinian state will start claiming jordan also part of a greater palestine ? Clinton wants a solution for the US strategy to day, but she is not thinking what about tomorrow when things will be worse ! Without israel the whole middle east will be a solid islamic front, its ambition to capture the world by terror & ransom. Oil will be used to burn the world !
Israel should continue to build houses on the land that God gave them. And the Prime Minister of Israel can ignore what our Secretary of State says because while our current administration chooses to condemn Israel, there are millions of citizens of the United States who believe what God has told us... I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you I will curse. The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob has promised His people, the Jews that He will be their God and they will be His people. There is a day of judgment coming and those who believe in the salvation that God freely offers will be saved.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you -- after the passage of a few decades or so, the feeder will take umbrage.
It's the Obama Admin that should be offering actions , more than just words, to show His support for Israel. Coming from an American, don't trust this U.S. government, we don't.
They just do not get it do they, there will be no peace with obama and his kind in power,only trouble,terrorist only understand one thing power,Israel has it and obama nation wants Israel to give it to them. Right, I don't think so
America's broke, Israel doesn't need them anymore. Its time Israel does what it wants for Israel, not for the rest of the world. Long live Israel.
Somebody needs to read "Diplomacy for Dummies." And buy copies for his friends. No, for his mayors and ministers. I don't think America understands Israel's priorities, as demonstrated by actions.
What a hot couple! Hillary, dump ole Bill and become Bibi's wife!
Here's one way it could work. The mid-term elections get a GOP majority in House and Senate. They tell Obama resign or be impeached. President Biden then gives unconditional support. Worst case, AIPAC tells Congress to do nothing for 3 years, and USA is dead in the water until 2012. Then whoever is president will not cross Israel. But if the USA is being punished they cannot prevent Iranian nukes. Will Israel have to do that without US assistance? If USA doesn't let planes cross Iraq then it is difficult. USA or Israel must attack Iran. It needs to be USA. They have bases in Iraq and Afghanistan with many planes. Easy for them, hard for Israel. But Obama keeps wimping out. Maybe if Obama dies in office then Biden will do it. Vitally important Mossad not get blamed.
The "Palestinians" and other Muslim states have maintained a state of war against Israel since at least 1948. What concessions are the "Palestinians" going to offer? Have they offered a concession yet? Jordan is Palestine.
I do understand this madness by the US and the White House. because they do not understand why Israel would act and respond in a manner not conducive to their thinking and cowtowing. It is about time that what has to be said is to be said is not understand that JERUSALEM and Greater Israel is not amd will not be given or donated to any party whether the US or the EU because it is not going to walk to the noose or the guillotine. If the world does not prepare itself for the coming trouble from Iran NOW, it will regret later when Israel goes it alone and then later UA administrations will have to apologise foS these present actions. Furthermore the US does not have the leadership to either lecture Israel on whatever it does on its own territory, and if they continue to pressure Israel the world will realize their serious error and turn their anger on their White House advisors. Not unespected. Look at their predecessors. It will not work, NOT NOW nor in the FUTURE. Remember these words
even my friends were amased at the contradiction of his message, which he was angry at israel but still managed to blame the pals, you helped create this monster america, now fix it.