Well, unless Netanyahu refuses to go along with their cunning plan to transform the Middle East into Switzerland by undermining Israeli security. Then all bets are off. But until then, they’re just going to ceaselessly pressure our ally to placate our enemies:
Several days ago, a classified telegram was received in Jerusalem discussing a meeting between Jones and a European foreign minister… “The new administration will convince Israel to compromise on the Palestinian question,” Jones said. “We will not push Israel under the wheels of a bus, but we will be more forceful toward Israel than we have been under Bush.” Jones is quoted in the telegram as saying that the United States, European Union and moderate Arab states must redefine “a satisfactory endgame solution.” The U.S. national security adviser did not mention Israel as party to these consultations. In the face of the strongly worded American signals, Netanyahu reiterated on Monday to the Knesset that “recognition of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is the necessary basis for genuine peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors.”
Jones is going to hold meetings where he will ask Israel’s enemies to write down everything they don’t like about the Jewish State, and then he’s going to turn around and “convince” Israel to meet those demands. I’m sure the “convincing” will look nothing like he blackmail that this administration reflexively reaches for when they need to get things done. It’ll probably be very polite and measured, both in recognition of Israel’s precarious security position and on account of the historical alliance between the US and the Middle East’s only functioning democracy.
Oh – unless this is the James Jones who proposed putting international troops in the West Bank after he created an institutionally potent paper trail in the State Department blaming Israel for Palestinian intransigence. If it’s that James Jones – the one who has consolidated power in the White House and has the President’s ear – then he’s going to detonate the US-Israeli alliance.
In fairness to ostensibly pro-Israel American Democrats though, there’s no way anybody could have seen this coming.
References and previously after the jump…
References:
* Biden tells AIPAC: Israel must support two-state solution [Ha'aretz]
* Obama To Bankers He’s Been Scapegoating: I’m “The Only Thing Between You And The Pitchforks” [MR]
* Obama NSA Pick James Jones: Hey, How About Some International Troops In The West Bank? [MR]
* State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank? [MR]
* Obama’s Top NSA And CIA Picks: Harsh On Israel, Sympathetic To Iran And Hezbollah [MR]
* Great News: Obama’s Hand-Picked NSC Consolidating Power [MR]
* 70 Percent Of American Jews Ready To Say “We Didn’t Know” When Obama Detonates US-Israel Alliance (Plus: They Most Definitely Know) [MR]
Previously:
* NYT: Israel Is Kind Of Undermining Obama’s Diplomacy, Isn’t It?
* Obama Foreign Policy Appointees: Israel To Blame For Mideast Instability, Sweeping Concessions Necessary
* No Kidding: Obama To Pressure Israel On Its Nuclear Deterrent
