Annapolis As A Rosetta Stone For How Anti-Israel Bait And Switch Diplomacy Works

Annapolis has already seen a very typical anti-Israel diplomatic bait-and-switch on the process side of things, where Israel agrees to a particular dialogue under particular gaurantees only to see those guarantees abandoned. Lebanon II’s assurances about Hezbollah being disarmed are the best recent non-Annapolis examples. The most obvious Annapolis example is how Bush promised Olmert that only countries that recognize Israel would be invited to Annapolis – and now not so much. Then Israel was promised that if Syria showed up – Syria being a country, for those of you keeping track at home, that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist – then at least Israel wouldn’t be coerced into making territorial concessions to Assad. But then Condi needed a legacy (hint: not Russia) and wanted to get the Saudis to attend – so the Golan had to go on the table.

Again the best non-Annapolis example involves Lebanon, where UN inspectors physically walked along the border with a GPS to make sure that Israel had withdrawn from every inch of Lebanese soil. Hezbollah needed an excuse to keep killing Israelis though, so they just unblinkingly insisted that Israel was still occupying Lebanon until they got the UN to agree with them. This is an example of the “moving the goalposts” kind of bait and switch, where Israel makes all the concessions that it is asked to make in exchange for recognition that, finally, it’s met some obligation or another – only to find out later that those concessions have been retroactively deemed insufficient.

After the jump, how Bush may pull the same kind of anti-Israel moving the goal posts blindside at Annapolis.

When Sharon left Gaza he did so with the US promise that he would be trading up – in exchange for tearing almost 10,000 Jews out of their homes, Sharon was promised that Israel would get to maintain defensible borders in any final peace deal with its Arab enemies. Screwed again:

According to the leading correspondent covering the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Shimon Shiffer of Yediot Ahronot (Israel’s largest newspaper), President Bush’s address at Annapolis “will not be easy for Israeli ears.” In Friday’s magazine, he argues, in an article co-authored by his colleague Nahum Barnea, that Bush will call for “the establsihment of a Palestinian state, the end of ‘occupation,’ and a return of Israel to the 1967 borders, leaving an opening for land swaps.” The authors explain that Olmert knows that “this text cannot be changed.”

It looks like the State Department – with all of their wonderful successes they’ve had in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon – will get another chance to bring peace to our time in the Middle East.

References:
* Visions of Annapolis [Powerline]
* Kasparov Beaten By Kremlin Police (Plus: Rice Trying To Make Up For Russia Failures By Endangering Israel) [MR]
* State Department Bait And Switch Puts Golan Heights On The Annapolis Agenda, Gets Syria To Attend (Plus: Saudi Arabia Got Condi To Do It To Undermine US Anti-Terrorism Efforts) [MR]
* The UN Makes It Official: There Is Absolutely No Agreement That Won’t Be Changed If Israel’s Genocidal Enemies Refuse To Accept For Long Enough [MR]
* Breaking: Bush Will Give Away Israeli Land At Annapolis!! [Gateway Pundit]
* Smug Condescending Sophisticates Admit They’ve Been Lying Through Their Teeth About Israeli Security II – State Department Admits That Their Fatah Security Assistance Is An Abject Failure [MR]
* Lebanon On Brink Of Civil War (Plus: State Department Prepares To Import Same Strategy To West Bank) [MR]

Previously:
* Arab League: Israel Has To Move Behind 1967 Lines, Give Up Fence Protecting Itself Behind 1967 Lines
* State Department Bait And Switch Puts Golan Heights On The Annapolis Agenda, Gets Syria To Attend (Plus: Saudi Arabia Got Condi To Do It To Undermine US Anti-Terrorism Efforts)
* Hezbollah Recruiting Thousands Of New Soldiers Thanks To US Diplomatic Failures, Lebanese Electoral Crisis (Plus: State Department Wants To Repeat Same Plan In West Bank And Wants Your Feedback)