U.S. offers Israel incentives package in exchange for 3 month settlement freeze

[Tripmann]

Source: Haaretz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's seven-member inner cabinet will discuss Saturday an offer by the United States to reinstate a freeze on West Bank Settlement construction in return for a package of incentives. Netanyahu presented Saturday the U.S. offer, which was discussed by Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, to the forum of seven.

According to "The Cable" blog, White House Middle East adviser Dan Shapiro told a group of American Jewish leaders on Friday that U.S. was committed to fighting delegitimation of Israel, and listed recent efforts to advocate on behalf of Israel.Such efforts included: curbing actions by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report; blocking anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid; defeating international resolutions aimed at exposing Israel's nuclear program at the International Atomic Energy Agency; and strengthening pressure on Iran and Syria in regards to their nuclear and proliferation activities.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-offers-israel-incentives-package-in-exchange-for-3-month-settlement-freeze-1.324496

---

So its "Stop your illegal activity and we'll curb international investigations against you for illegal activity. Oh and heres 20 F35s and 3 billion in aid"

No wonder the peace process is progressing so well.

[Bozita]

1. Has this been cleared with Eric Cantor?

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[montanacowboy]

2. How much more ridiculous can we look

Take the frigging money away from them

Keep on rewarding the aparthed nation

[Kurska]

5. "Aparthed nation"? You clearly are the expert on the subject.

Hahaha...It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

Protip: It is spelled apartheid.

[boppers]

15. Protip: racism and religious bias in citizenship is not part of democracy.

If Israel wants to be a nation, they need to drop the programs which exclude "non-Jews" from being an equal part of the nation.

Before you leap at the keyboard, and point out that there are palestinians/arabs/muslims in Israeli government, I'll ask if they all get settler/citizen benefits, and if Israel has extended voting rights, and citizenship, to all of the people who live in the borders that they control.

(Hint: The answer is no.)

That's why it's apartheid. The word itself "apartheid", comes from Afrikaans, and means "apart" (separate) + "heid" (hood, as in neighborhood).

A settlement is apartheid. A kubbutz is apartheid. Separate roads, with separate license plates, is apartheid. Anything that creates a neighborhood, a zone, an area of control, for groups of people, is apartheid.

[ixion]

21. very well said...

Israel is a rogue state, and should be treated as such.

[Pirate Smile]

8. You do realize that Congress will never let that happen. If President Obama tried to do that then

Congress would pass the money for them by a veto-proof margin. Congress undercut Poppy Bush when he wanted to try to apply some pressure. They would certainly do it to Obama. W didn't even try, of course. Clinton had his own interesting encounters - During their first meeting in 1996, Bibi lectured Bill about the Arab-Israeli conflict, drawing an angry reaction from the American president, according to a book, Much Too Promised Land, by a former special envoy to the Middle East, Aaron Miller. Mr Clinton is quoted as saying: 'Who the f**k does he think he is? Who's the f**king superpower here?" '

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7918089.stm

[JohnyCanuck]

22. "Who is the superpoewer here?"

Looks more and more like it's not who Bill thought it was.

[Chulanowa]

38. As the saying goes, "if you have to ask..."

[JackRiddler]

3. How come this carrot and carrot approach never seems to work?

Cut off their aid if they keep building. Anything else shows a lack of interest in getting them to stop.

Think what was done illegally to a domestic group, ACORN, although ACORN had done absolutely none of the things it was accused of.

[boppers]

16. ACORN was accused of giving tax advice to a faux pimp and child trafficker.

Which is both legal, and reprehensible, and something that they were accused of doing... and is supported by O'Keefe *and* ACORN.

So you might need to dial back on: "ACORN had done absolutely none of the things it was accused of".

Maybe try: "ACORN did nothing illegal, regardless of the accusations".

[arcticken]

24. They stopped for 10 months and the

bunnylike Palestinians wasted 9 of them before coming in at the final hour. Not so smart and not so committed to peace. But those facts never seem to matter to the hate Israel no matter what crowd.

[mallard]

27. Re: the "hate Israel no matter what crowd"

They can't shake a stick back at you guys on the anti side, in terms of spewing hateful venom, nevermind 'no matter what" loyalty ... no matter what!

[arcticken]

33. LOL Try some REALITY for a change.

With a right wing government in charge we are lucky that ANY freezes was agreed to. But instead of putting a little blame on the Palestinians for wasting all that time some here only want to retreat to the old screeds of the Narrative. Since that is a REGRESSIVE step I rest my case. Something else is at play obviously.

[JackRiddler]

28. "They stopped for 10 months" is not impressive. It's illegal land seizure, an occupation.

I stopped stealing your homes for 10 months, now you complain when I begin again?!

Of course, they didn't actually stop:

Settlement freeze has barely slowed construction
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100923/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_what_settlement_freeze

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hulka38]

4. Grovel more USA.

We fought and beat the Japanese, the Germans twice and the Soviet Union for this?

[Loudmxr]

6. Nah ain't gonna cut it. They are like the British with the Irish.

[classysassy]

7. A nation of fools

Have we gone mad,defending a nation of land grabbers?If the Indians start building homes in the park across from the White House will Mrs Clinton support them?BiBi continue to play America like a two dollar guitar.

[snappyturtle]

9. So what happens after three months? This proposal is ridiculous. nt

[ncdemclt]

11. What happens in three months?

The gov folds once again. I still have yet to figure out what we gained with this relationship. There must be some serious money under the table – or we are fucking idiots.

[lostnfound]

26. Our "Defense" "industry" is who gains. nt

[arcticken]

25. Well first the Palestinians wait for 85 days

then complain when it goes off the rails on day 90.

[Blue_Tires]

10. So it was nothing more than a shakedown from Netanyahu from the start

[Frank Booth]

12. This is like paying a serial criminal to stop

robbing banks for three months.

[western mass]

13. So Israel gets rewarded for building settlements....

it really is a win-win for them.

[Poll_Blind]

14. Ah, the first Stuxnet "insurance" payment going through.

:rofl:

PB

[Pirate Smile]

17. Netanyahu Agrees to Push for Freeze in Settlements

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has agreed to push his cabinet to freeze most construction on settlements in the West Bank for 90 days to break an impasse in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, an official briefed on talks between the United States and Israel said Saturday evening.

In return, the Obama administration has offered Israel a package of security incentives and fighter jets worth $3 billion that would be contingent on the signing of a peace agreement, the official said. The United States would also block any moves in the United Nations Security Council that would try to shape a final peace agreement.
The quid pro quo was hashed out by Mr. Netanyahu and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in seven and a half hours of talks in New York on Thursday.

-snip-
He convened an unusual meeting of the inner council of his cabinet in Jerusalem on Saturday night, and he will meet with the full cabinet on Sunday, according to an Israeli official.

-snip-
The logic behind a 90-day extension is that the two sides would aim for a swift agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state. That would make the long dispute over settlements irrelevant since it would be clear which housing blocks fell into Israel and which fell into a Palestinian state.
The security incentives offered by the administration, though generous, do not appear to go far beyond the support the United States typically offers Israel. For example, the United States has not agreed to endorse a long-term Israeli security presence in the Jordan River Valley, the official said.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/world/middleeast/14mideast.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes

[Tx4obama]

18. Booyaay - Take that Eric Cantor !!! ;) n/t

[Poll_Blind]

19. On signing the peace deal, Israel will receive...(wait for it)...FIGHTER JETS. LOL.

PB

[Chulanowa]

20. Well, the Palestinian Air Force is very skilled and crafty!

Not to mention technologically advanced - it takes a lot of very smart men to keep all those invisible planes off the radar!

[ProudDad]

31. 43 years of carrots haven't worked, Obama

What's wrong with using the stick...

You WILL negotiate a viable 2 state solution and THEN we'll RESTORE the funding (that we're cutting) that supports your Socialist State for Jews and brutal, illegal occupation for the rest...

The first down payment on this "threat" and promise will be a reduction in our support of $1 billion for the first year - 2011...

[NeoConsSuck]

23. 3 billion??

Thank heavens we are running a budget surplus in this country and don't need the money.

Why aren't the Teafuckers all over this?? Apparently it is OK to spend on military hardware, but spending on social programs is socialism.

[Duppers]

29. damn!

nt

[hollowdweller]

30. We will buy them a pony if they are good for 3 months

Given all the punditry surrounding the recent trade negotiations and the line that it shows US weakness that so little progress was made, it always blows me away what a weakness the US shows in US/ Israeli relations. If it was any other country I can imagine what would be said.

Congress balks at helping the US worker but nothing is too much for Israel. They have more clout in the US gov't than their citizens do!

Can you imagine if a US lawmaker had a dual US/Saudi Arabian citizenship??

[Behind the Aegis]

36. It isn't possible to have a dual US/Saudi Arabian citizenship.

Now, as you imply, which US lawmakers have dual US/Israeli citizenship?

[LuckyLib]

34. It's called extortion.

[Enrique]

35. Netanyahu: "America is a thing that can be easily moved"

http://crooksandliars.com/ian-welsh/israeli-pm-natanyahu-america-easily-move

One of the most important videos you've never seen is this one, in which Benjamin Netanyahu, 9 years ago -- thinking there is no record -- explains his actually strategy to inflict pain on the Palestinians. He also describes how easy it is to manipulate the US, and how he made sure that the Oslo Accords would mean nothing.

(...)

“I know what America is. America is a thing that can be easily moved, moved in the right direction... Let's suppose that they (the Americans) will say something (i.e. to us Israelis) ... so they say it...” (i.e. so what?)

(...)

[Heywood J]

37. Here's your "incentive package"...

Stop building settlements or we cut off any and all aid, target AIPAC and others for espionage prosecutions, and consider barring your citizens from visiting.


But of course, the Bible-beaters in Congress would never let that happen.

[kpete]

39. Israeli source: Cabinet likely to accept U.S. trade for settlement freeze

Source: Haaretz

Israeli source: Cabinet likely to accept U.S. trade for settlement freeze

The deal includes a U.S. undertaking not to request a further extension of the freeze past the suggested 90-day moratorium, and to veto any attempt by the Palestinians to win UN recognition of their state unilaterally.

By News Agencies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will probably win narrow approval from his coalition government for a U.S. proposal to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement building, Israeli political sources said on Sunday.

The Palestinians halted peace talks after the 10-month Israeli moratorium on settlement construction expired in September. The Obama administration has offered Israel diplomatic and defense perks to renew the freeze for 90 days.

Netanyahu, who visited the United States last week, convened his cabinet to outline the proposal, which he said was still being drafted with the Americans. Once ready, it would be put to a vote in Israel's 15-minister security cabinet, he said.

"In any event, I insist that any proposal meet the State of Israel's security needs, both in the immediate term and vis-a-vis the threats that we will face in the coming decade," Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast by Israeli media.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-source-cabinet-likely-to-accept-u-s-trade-for-settlement-freeze-1.324668

[cpwm17]

40. President Obama isn't on our side

How can anyone with any self respect make such a deal?

Essentially President Obama and Israel are negotiated away the Palestinians' right to exists. Israel is also profiting greatly from the process - how disgusting.

[totodeinhere]

41. He may not be on "your" side but he certainly is on mine.

President Obama has accomplished a lot in a brief two years. So when you say "our" I wish you could speak for yourself and leave me out of it.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nalnn]

44. I/P ? NT

[durkermaker]

45. why not just take away some of what we already give them instead? nt