Summary
At the heart of the matter, there has been Washington's willingness to take Israel on by expressing serious dissatisfaction over its West Bank and east Jerusalem settlement policies. The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, scoffed off the U.S. Secretary of State's criticism of his plan to demolish several "illegally built" Palestinian homes as "just so much hot air." More responsible Israeli officials do not conceal their concern. Of the distinct change in atmosphere, one official conceded, "it's not going to be at all easy to argue with the U.S. on this."
By the time of the Doha summit, [Benjamin Netanyahu] will almost certainly be at Israel's helm. Thus far, he restricts himself to a nebulous "economic empowerment" initiative for the Palestinians in the West Bank and to "the need to eradicate Hamas." He has given no indication he means to head off mese winds of change with any ground-breaking initiative of his own.For the past decade, successive Israeli leaders have dismissed not just Hamas, but the Palestinian Authority as a "non-part- ner" in peace-making. Now, Netanyahu's critics argue that, under him, Israel risks dismissing itself as a partner. Veteran Hebrew University political scientist Prof. Yehezkel Dror says bluntly: "Leaning on the Arab /peace initiative, circumstances demand a comprehensive Israeli peace plan."See the full content of this document
Extract
Hot Air Brings No Winds of Change
JERUSALEM - Last November, on the day marking the assassination of Israel's peace-making leader Yitzhak Rabin, the now outgoing' Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israelis something which, for decades, not even Rabin had dared say we must end the occupation of the, Palest...
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