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Obama Aggravates Israel's Mistake
(Boston Globe) Jeff Robbins - Knowing that Netanyahu had already apologized for the announcement of additional housing in east Jerusalem, the Obama administration deliberately took a course that it knew would inflame anti-Israeli intransigence throughout the Arab world, and would undermine support for Israel in the U.S., turning these events into something that borders on ugly. Notably, this was from an administration that had stayed conspicuously silent for 14 months while Mahmoud Abbas refused even to negotiate with Israel, without fear of any consequences. The PA has in the last decade repeatedly rejected two-state solutions with Israel that would have involved an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem. Hamas, which controls Gaza, has made it clear that it does not have an issue with housing projects here or there; rather, it is committed to the destruction of any state of Israel, regardless of borders. This makes the Obama administration's position that settlements are the impediment to peace worse than silly. When those who have long harbored the view that it is only a matter of time before the U.S. can be peeled away from Israel hear words that confirm their view, any incentive they may have had to make peace with Israel disappears and the incentive to be intransigent grows. By the same token, when the administration resorts to the sort of ugliness that it has over the last week, it raises serious questions among Israelis and others about whether Obama can be trusted to protect the security of Israel. The writer is a former U.S. delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission under President Clinton.