Re: “US deal for Israeli freeze on settlements helps Mideast talks” editorial in the Thursday, November 18
What was the Globe thinking when it endorsed an extravagant American giveaway to Israel engineered by Dennis Ross – in exchange for three more months of a charade known as US-brokered peace talks and a promise never again to exert such pressure on Israel?
If anyone has noticed, the 10 months of the so-called settlement freeze were never observed by Israel. So what does another 3 months of non-observance buy anyone? Just more settlements for Israel.
And if anyone has noticed, Israel’s new precondition – demanding that the Palestinians recognize not just Israel, but a Zionist Israel – is designed to scuttle such talks because of the implications for not only Israel’s 1.5 million Palestinian citizens but for millions of Palestinian refugees with unresolved land claims.
This US-financed largesse most closely resembles bribing both a home invader never to do it again and the judge to not prosecute him.
It is well past the time for tasty carrots for Israel – carrots we can scarcely afford. Now it’s time for some well-applied pressure – if not the stick. Withholding UN vetoes, taking away military aid, and demanding that Israel comply with international law have a greater chance of producing the needed attitude adjustment that decades of asking “pretty please” has failed to deliver.
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