Netanyahu is less of a liar than past Israeli PMs

[oberliner]

Does Benjamin Netanyahu lie more than other politicians? That, at least, is the impression one gets from various reports in the press. But does he lie more than other prime ministers about Israel's strong (lack of ) desire for peace with the Palestinians? To say that would be downright mendacious.

The mouth speaks peace while the hand drives the bulldozer - the essence of Israeli policy. Yitzhak Rabin may have had a few slips of the tongue that gave hope to those of us who recoil from yoking God and real estate together. But it was during Rabin's second term that the bypass roads to the settlements were built, making Psagot and the Etzion Bloc part of Jerusalem. It was during his watch that Hebron was punished with a ruinous curfew because a Jew massacred Palestinian worshippers. It was during his tenure that the closure policy was perfected, cutting off the Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip from the other territories occupied in 1967. Succeeding Israeli governments merely continued down the same slope.

The characterization of Netanyahu as a liar rests on two problematic assumptions. One, that consciously-chosen words are supposed to tell us something about intentions and policies. There is no area where Israel has used declarations by leaders to cover up intentions more than in our relations toward Palestinians (on both sides of the Green Line ). Contracts with architects, expropriation orders, checks to contractors. These are the words that speak the truth.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-is-less-of-a-liar-than-past-israeli-pms-1.395844

[azurnoir]

1. I'll agree with Ms Hass in fact it is the one near likeable thing about Netanyahu

there is really no mistaking his intent, his actions speak loudly

[Purveyor]

2. {{{chuckle}}} eom