The restraining of Obama

The journalists accompanying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States are devastated. It turned out that the U.S. president, and not Israel's prime minister, gave in on the matter of the settlements.

After all, the journalists and their colleagues back home predicted that Barack Obama, as opposed to his predecessors, would put a complete stop to construction in the settlements. How could he make such a grievous mistake and shatter their vision!

And if he cannot overcome Netanyahu, and exchanges "construction in the settlements has got to stop" with anemic "restraint," how can he overcome North Korea or Iran? Is this really the leader of the free world?

Senior members of Obama's administration had prepared a list of tough, but not bizarre, demands from the Likud government. Then came the energetic extreme left activists in Israel and they persuaded them - the prime minister after all bows to demands - to bring brutal pressure to bear on Israel.

Stopping construction in the settlements, especially in Jerusalem, they said, was the key to getting Netanyahu to give in and jump-start a diplomatic process.

This is not the first time that the "peace camp" has stood helpless before a situation it created itself, following its messianic activism that denies the reality (did someone say Oslo?) it brought upon itself, and upon all of us. If it were not for these activists, happy to continue concocting policy behind the government's back, there would almost certainly be talks today between Israel and the Palestinians.

But they want to prove that it does not matter what the voter chooses or who the elected government is - hegemony in important areas, first and foremost the peace process, is still in their hands.

And of course, their influence on the American administration (although it is immoral, and usually useless, to invite foreign governments to pressure your country) is greater than that of the government.

The demand the Americans presented, to stop construction even in Jerusalem, gave Netanyahu two choices: to give up and bring about a crisis in his cabinet that he would not be likely to overcome, or to stand tall and declare - enough. He declared it. When it turned out that the sky did not fall, he gave permission (albeit recycled permission) to construct 455 housing units in Judea and Samaria.

The American dictate - patronizing, insulting and arrogant - had the Palestinians euphoric. They hardened their position accordingly: talks with Israel only in exchange for complete cessation of construction, including in Jerusalem. So what has changed since the days of Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak (when they each served as prime minister and there was no construction freeze)?

The American recklessness resulting from the influence of the Israeli left has changed. If Obama demands a total freeze, how can Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas compromise and renew talks for less?

One of the results of this impossible demand is, to the sorrow of those who cooked up the "construction has to stop" formula, the renewal of construction in Judea and Samaria. And no power in the world can now stop the dictates of the natural demands - as well as ideology - of life.

Settlement in Judea and Samaria is a solid, permanent and deeply rooted reality. A long and terrible war of terror could not vanquish it, oceans of horrific and cruel propaganda, especially from those within Israeli society who hate it, could not break its spirit. The complete opposite happened. All the more so, external dictates will not rattle its foundations.

Functional arrangements for the future of Judea and Samaria have their place, but the starting point is clear: Settlements will not be uprooted and their size will not be limited. Even the restrained Obama has begun to realize this. So when will the extreme left in Israel also restrain itself and realize it?