The Day In Israel: Wednesday Mar 17th, 2010
The US is waiting for Israel’s response to demands raised by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, including the cancellation of the Ramat Shlomo construction project in East Jerusalem, yet more goodwill gestures toward the palestinians, and a public declaration by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of his willingness to discuss the conflict’s core issues in the framework of peace negotiations with the PA.
A State Department spokesman said Tuesday night that the United States expects an official response from Israel soon. He said Clinton and Netanyahu may speak by phone as early as Wednesday. Netanyahu is expected to deliver Israel’s official response to Clinton during that conversation.
Israel’s response had been set to be the main focus of a meeting Wednesday of the forum of seven senior cabinet members, though that meeting will now not take place.
Meanwhile, the palestinians – who initiated violent riots yesterday because Israel rededicated a synagogue previously destroyed by the Arab Legion – need not do anything but sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Oh, and thank their lucky stars for Barack Obama.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
7:00PM: Hillary has softened her rhetoric against Israel.
6:50PM: To quote Gene Wilder in The Frisco Kid, “Would somebody please show this poor asshole the way out of town?”
After visiting the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Wednesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the security barrier must come down.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Da Silva added that Brazil would continue to support the Palestinians so that their dream of establishing an independent, secure state will come true.
Earlier, the Brazilian president placed a wreath on Arafat’s tomb, despite criticism from Israel.
The Brazilian leader has said he would like to play a bigger role in Mideast diplomacy. He is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories this week.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he boycotted meetings with Da Silva because the Brazilian leader did not visit the grave of Zionism’s founder Theodor Herzl.
6:28PM: Jordanian King Abdullah “Beaver” II is being a responsible peace partner and trying to calm the situation down.
Yeah, right.
The international community should not stand by and watch as Israel attempts to rid Jerusalem of its Arab residents, Jordanian King Abdullah II said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Jerusalem is a red line and the world should not be silent about Israel’s attempts to get rid of Jerusalem’s Arabs residents, Muslims or Christians,” the Dubai daily Khaleej Times quoted the king as saying to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Amman.
And we all know Abdullah knows all about getting rid of palestinians.
2:38PM: Quote of the day:
“Now, however, we see the Obama Administration has decided to escalate, make unilateral demands of Israel, and threaten the very foundation of the US-Israel relationship. This is quickly leading to the worst crisis in US-Israel relations in decades, and yet this did not have to happen.”
—-
“Once again, the Obama Administration is missing the boat on a very, very important issue. They need to go back to the basics and acknowledge Palestinian leaders have not progressed any peace process since President Obama was elected. As Israel makes concessions (and is still criticized by the Obama Administration), Arab leaders are just sitting back waiting for the White House to further pressure Israel. The Obama Administration needs to open its eyes and recognize that it is only Iran and her terrorist allies that benefit from this manufactured Israeli controversy.”
- Sarah Palin (on her Facebook page)
11:46AM: Ha’aretz reports on the Simpsons’ upcoming Israel episode.
The first images from the upcoming episode of The Simpsons, in which the animated family visits Israel, were released this week after six months of buzz over the special show to be aired in the United States on March 28.
The episode, titled “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed,” includes scenes of Homer and Bart at the Western Wall with their Israeli tour guide, who will be voiced by British comedian Sascha Baron Cohen, of Borat and Bruno fame.
In the episode, Homer gets “Jerusalem Syndrome” and believes that he is the Messiah. Also, the tour guide bickers and exchanges political barbs with Marge.
“This is an episode that people from all three religions will be equally offended by,” said Simpsons producer Al Jean.
The show has featured many Jewish jokes and characters during its 21 seasons on air, most prominently Krusty the Clown (whose Jewish name is Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofski).
7:35AM: The PA has named a street in Ramallah after terror enabler Rachel Corrie.
Which is quite appropriate, when you think about it.
7:26AM: Introducing our latest weapon: Zionist Death Doob.TM
A student from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev shows his creation as he takes part in a competition to roll the most original looking joint in the southern city of Beersheba March 16, 2010. The student-organised event, which featured legal tobacco as the filling rather than marijuana, drew around 20 contestants wanting to win the 800 Shekels prize (around $200). REUTERS/Amir Cohen
5:58AM: Charles Krauthammer explains what the real insult is in this latest US-Israel crisis.
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About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: General
Orlev has already gone on the record as saying that Bibi's decision on Ramat Shlomo will be a make-or-break decision for the coalition. As in, if Bibi gives in, then he can say goodbye to Habayit Hayehudi, Shas, and probably Yisrael Beitenu as well. Elections in 3 months, everyone!
YAY! We get a day off!
If Bibi gives up RSh, he will never be PM again.
Watch this whole scheme of Obama's backfire when Likud has 40 seats and YB has 20. etc etc…
I have thought for some time that some of the commenters on this site are also suffering from "Jerusalem syndrome" too. I see myself as suffering a related mental condition where I irrationally follow someone having Jerusalem syndrome (Jerusalem syndrome-by-proxy, perhaps) I don't want to name names because it wouldn't do any good anyway. They would just deny it as is demonstrated wonderfully in "Monty Python's Life of Brian." I don't want to tip my hand on who I've decided to follow as my own personal Messiah, but I'm holding a sandal in one hand and the holy gourd in the other.
I believe that King Abdullah has Jerusalem syndrome…he thinks he is the messiah of the Arab people's by leading the challenge against "Israeli Imperialism!" When actually, all he is doing is just revealing himself to be a nut…like most of those stricken with JS!
The Jewish people have been "suffering" from Jerusalem syndrome for 3000 years.
Don't cave to hillary's rantings, biden's "insult" or US "demands". Am Yisrael Chai!
Now I find out that the construction at the center of this dispute is taking place in the former no-man's-land of the 1949 armistice and not in what was an Arab controlled section. Will somebody give Obama a reality check?
Great now we have Palin advocating for Israel. If there was any hope to bring back the liberals…(did we ever have the liberals to start with?)
Really, now! Can't we just appreciate our friends (whatever their politics). We did have the liberals, until the fashions changed.
I'd be a little more careful in who I picked as "friends of Israel" if I were you, Michael. I know politics sometimes makes strange bedfellows, but if you lie down with the predestinationist, Bible prophesy-spewing Christian Zionists you might just wake up speaking in tongues.
I think they are better friends than the Jewish community is right now. Besides, that's a rediculous bit of stereotyping that does not become you. For example, on our local Baltimore radio station we had at least two self-described Christian Zionists – one a semi-practicing Catholic, the other a pro-death Episcoplian minister.
Besides, I've always considered myself a member of the Religious Right.
Would you want Charlie Manson to be advocating for Israel? Extreme, but the point is made.
Not really. She is a politician some people (not me) don’t like, he is a multiple murderer. Bad analogy. I don’t want Bill Ayer’s support either, but I would welcome Obama’s.
I will happily welcome left-wing politicians supporting Israel. I wish there were more.
Well my point was to bring up someone that the public isnt fond of.
It would be nice, but they seem to have been brainwashed. It'd be interesting to trace how that happened. I'm actually planning to write a pamphlet directed at anarchists that explains the conflict better and shows how Israel is the country, if any, they should support because it is much closer to their ideology (Kibbutzim for starters) and also the Arabs are the exact opposite: oppression and exploitation.
Define, "the public"? She has a LOT of fans.
At any rate, I welcome support from anybody except the real crazies (say, LaRouche). I wish we had more Democratic support. I told you there was an organization working on it, but it got co-opted by the DNC. I will appreciate anyone's support, even if I can't stand them otherwise. Heck, I voted for Clinton once.
Personally, I think regarding the Middle East, we are experiencing the second term of George H. W. Bush.
Certainly liberals find her amusingly distasteful and the intellectual conservatives wish she would just go away. The funny thing in all this is that she appears to be a Christian socialist. If you look at her values and her policies, you see Christianity and socialism. In fact, her record was the most socialist of the four people running for P&VP in 2008.
On co-opting, a friend and I were/are trying to build a third party from the ground up and another friend who is more knowledgable told us how a lot of these advocacy groups and third parties get hijacked. Politics is a beautiful game.