Defense Minister: Israel needs to recognize the occupation must end
Ehud Barak: Israel-U.S. alienation is not good for Israel, we must act to change things.
By News Agencies Tags: Ehud Barak US Palestinian Authority Israel newsIsrael must recognize that the world will not put up with decades more of Israeli rule over the Palestinian people, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in unusually frank remarks Monday.
Barak's comments came against the backdrop of severe friction between the U.S. and Israel's hawkish government over an impasse in peacemaking.
"The world isn't willing to accept - and we won't change that in 2010 - the expectation that Israel will rule another people for decades more," he said. "It's something that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
"The alienation that is developing with the United States is not good for Israel," Barak said during a Memorial Day radio interview. "We have strong ties with the United States, a bond, long-term friendship and strategic partnership. We receive three billion dollars from them each year; we get the best planes in the world from them."
"For all these reasons we must act to change things," Barak said, while voicing doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would soon enjoy the same warm ties with the White House as his predecessors did when President George W. Bush was in office.
With Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama sharply at odds over settlement policy in territories which the Palestinians eye for a state, Barak held out the prospect of reshaping Israel's government so that it could make bold land-for-peace moves.
"With a broad readiness to go for a [peace] agreement, Israeli governments have overcome many obstacles in the daily discourse with the Americans about building in this or that settlement or a Jerusalem neighborhood," Barak said about long-standing differences with Washington over the issue.
Barak's comments echoed a call last Thursday from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Israel to take "concrete steps toward peace" or risk empowering Islamist militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Obama administration responded angrily last month when Israel announced a project, during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, to build a 1,600 more homes for Jews in a part of the West Bank that it annexed to Jerusalem.
The Palestinians subsequently cancelled plans to enter into U.S.-mediated, indirect talks with Israel and Netanyahu has yet to respond to a U.S. list of steps that Washington wants him to take to coax them back to the negotiating table.
Political sources in Israel said Washington proposed 11 such "confidence-building" measures, which have not been disclosed publicly but are thought to include freezing Israeli construction in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they intend to establish in the West Bank, and say settlements could deny them a viable state.
Sources said Netanyahu, who has pledged not to place curbs on building homes for Israelis in and around East Jerusalem, was unlikely to agree in full to all of the steps Washington seeks.
To do so, the sources said, could cause his coalition to disintegrate, and continued friction with Obama could be a price the Israeli leader would be willing to pay to remain at the helm.
Political commentators have raised the possibility of bringing in former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party to keep Netanyahu's coalition in power if pro-settler factions decide to pull out.
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I agree with the Defence Minister on defence but... how many people have faith enough that when they say "Next year in Jerusalem" they mean it and would be faithful to God to the death for that? Jesus wouldn't give the half of Jerusalem away with the Temple Mount.
on all counts. But he's still a war criminal..
can't set foot in UK or will be arrested for war crimes. He's playing both sides and yes he is throwing a bone to Obama. He's trying to save his own skin he knows the Netanyahu govt is doomed.
why don't we clear the west bank of all jews send the to Abraham, at least there will finally be peace in the world
You made my day, my month, and my year! And Hag Sameach Ehud.
The Obama administration needs to seque into pressuring the Palestinians to show up too. Otherwise the small progress made recently in clarifying the need for Israeli participation in the peace process might be lost.
"Should Israel invite Hamas to move into the West Bank and East Jerusalem?" Since you asked..... all the people of Gaza have every right to move to the West Bank. They are all Palestinian, and all should be able to move freely between their two areas (which they were able to do until Israel stole the land that joined the two pieces of land)
The tide is beginning to turn. A new reality is fast emerging in the Middle East where Turkey is moving closer than ever to its Arab brothers. Iran to the east is looking ahead and is no longer prepared to accept foreign hegemony. The US and its Western allies are in disarray in Afghanistan and are on the brink of the mother of all defeats in Iraq. The much hated Mubarak of Egypt is on his way out and his pathetic policy of playing footsie with the Israelis will depart with him. Egypt will come back to the fold. Guys, it?s time to get the pop corn out and enjoy the show. The future looks very bright indeed for us Palestinians. Our enemies are in decline and our patience and perseverance is about to pay off.
for all the wrong reasons. Occupation should stop because it is inhumane and unlawful.
Remember the 23 illegal outposts that he promised would be down two yrs ago? Remember his recent calling on the courts to delay the government taking action on a certain outpost that should have been dismantled by now. This is all calculated and planned to thorw a bone to Obama. Barak supports the occupation despite all his fine talk. His actions speak louder than his words and his track record is abysmal.
Guys, it's Yom Hazikaron, the day we remember the memories of those that fell protecting or extending our borders! Whoever curses them who reached the Kisse Hakavod gets cursed by the Almighty.
I agree the occupation must end. Clear the West Bank of all the arabs. Send them to their friend Abdullah. Then the occupation will end. Goodbye.
What can I tell you - I voted for this guy in the last elections ... - and he is calling it the way it is.
I am 100% sure this number 1 does not mean what he says. He must be an Israeli foe that wants to destroy the US-Israel bonds
Doesn't he know that if anything the occupation is getting more oppressive instead of less? ( crackdown on demonstrations, the recent order regarding deportation of unwanted palestinians etc. )He should know, he IS the boss isn't he?
The more pressure Obama places on Israel, the more Abbas will demand. A ten month freeze on West Bank building was a decent confidence building gesture, for which Israel got no gesture in return. Leaving Gaza in 2005 for the PA to take over was also a wasted gesture. Should Israel invite Hamas to move into the West Bank and East Jerusalem?
The US, the EU and the Arabs nations must and will change. The only thing the Jews are doing right is reclaiming the Land of Israel after 1,000 of years of the Nations having their way. It's over, they change from their 'Might makes Right' years of terror, or accept their fate.