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Lovebombing Israel


(Washington Post) Jackson Diehl - Over the years U.S. envoys from Baker to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have learned that the trick is to sidestep such broadsides, expressing disapproval without allowing the toxic settlement issue to take center stage and derail peace negotiations. After all, most Israeli settlement announcements, including this one, are pure symbolism: No ground will be broken anytime soon, and even if the homes are eventually constructed they won't stand in the way of a Palestinian state. Biden chose to use a word - "condemn" - that is very rarely employed in U.S. statements about Israel, even though he and his staff knew that Netanyahu himself had been blindsided by the settlement announcement. Biden's trip was seen as a way of assuring Israelis that if they took risks in peace talks, this U.S. administration would stand behind them. Mission accomplished? I would think not.
2010-03-15 09:51:40
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