At my age, it isn't often that I am dumbfounded by reading an article in the   
   news. I am more than aware of the war of words which occurs on a daily basis   
   in the various forms of the mass media, between governments, organizations   
   and individuals, as they each strive to psychologically manipulate the   
   general public, and convince them of their particular version of the truth,   
   and their point of view, whatever it happens to be.   
      
   But I must admit, that my jaw dropped when I read what Israeli Prime   
   Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to say in an article that appeared in the   
   January 3rd online edition of the Israeli left-leaning newspaper Haaretz.   
      
   In the article, entitled "Netanyahu: Israel agreed to new settlement freeze,   
   but U.S. retracted offer", Mr. Netanyahu makes the bold claim that "The   
   United States asked us to consider extending the freeze by three months, and   
   the truth is that we were prepared to do so." Furthermore, Netanyahu insists   
   that it was the "United States who decided against that direction,   
   rightfully, in my opinion." According to the same Haaretz article, the   
   Israeli Prime Minister also stated "I told Obama that I am prepared to go   
   with this to the cabinet and that I will be able to enforce the move, but   
   then I received the surprising phone call from the Americans who said they   
   no longer demand that Israel extends the freeze . . . The Americans were   
   right in saying that the settlement freeze will lead to a dead end, in which   
   we would have entered an endless path of settlement freezes, but despite it   
   all, I agreed to go through with it."   
      
   What a far cry from what has been reported in the American mass media.   
   Contrary to Netanyahu's claims, Americans have been led to believe that the   
   reason why the Obama administration ultimately withdrew from its position   
   regarding the settlement freeze, is because despite everything that was   
   offered to the Israelis on an American gold platter, Mr. Netanyahu and the   
   Israeli government would not yield to this condition. Thus, it was pointless   
   to pursue it further.   
      
   So, who is telling the truth? Did Obama really back down due to the heavy   
   criticism that he was offering so much to Israel in order to obtain the   
   short settlement freeze, while getting so little in return? Or is the truth   
   of the matter that Netanyahu's government never did accept the settlement   
   freeze proposal? Obviously, those of us who are outside of the loop will   
   never know the truth.   
      
   Of course, being the conservative hawk that he is, Mr. Netanyahu couldn't   
   leave it at that. Thus, he also took opportunity to deflect criticism from   
   himself, by once again pointing the finger at Mahmoud Abbas and the   
   Palestinian government, and blaming them for failure of the peace process to   
   move forward. According to Haaretz, Netanyahu stated "During the cabinet   
   meeting on Sunday, I called on Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud   
   Abbas], to hold direct negotiations, but I got no answer . . . We took many   
   actions in order to move the peace process forward but the Palestinians did   
   not even advance one millimeter despite the settlement freeze. The   
   Palestinians entered talks only toward the end of the freeze and the only   
   subject they wanted to discuss was an extension of the freeze."   
      
   These latter statements by Mr. Netanyahu left me even more dumbfounded. He   
   received no answer from the Palestinians? Well, what in the world did   
   Netanyahu expect would happen if he didn't stop all settlement construction   
   and expansion, including in East Jerusalem? To continue with the settlements   
   is like slapping the Palestinians in the face, while at the same time saying   
   "I want to make peace with you". Is it any wonder then that the Palestinians   
   have refused to continue negotiations until the settlement issue is   
   resolved? I can't say that I blame them one single bit.   
      
   Years ago I stated that as long as Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat were in   
   power, there would be no peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.   
   Similarly, when Benjamin Netanyahu acquired his first term as Israeli Prime   
   Minister, like many writers, I noted that this was very bad news, and that   
   we would see no peace agreement during that time. When Netanyahu won another   
   term as Prime Minister of Israel, I was quite surprised, as I thought that   
   the Israelis had had enough of him the first time around years ago.   
   Apparently, not so.   
      
   So, here we stand years later at pretty much the same point, and not any   
   closer to obtaining peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The   
   core issues and problems remain exactly the same, and the inflexibility   
   demonstrated by both sides remains the same. The Jews continue with their   
   successful policy of continuous talk and procrastination with little real   
   progress on the ground, while the Palestinians continue to grow more   
   disillusioned, desperate and angry with each passing year that their dreams   
   and goals are not achieved. They have been waiting for literally decades   
   now, and soon or later, the pot may once again boil over. So, where will it   
   all end? For possible answers to this important question, I invite you to   
   read some of the articles that are found on our Endtime Prophecy Net   
   website. Man may not have the answers, or know the future, but God most   
   certainly does.   
      
   If you would like to read the full news article in Haaretz, please go to the   
   following URL. I cannot guarantee that it will still be operational at the   
   time that you read this commentary.   
      
   /www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/netanyahu-israel-agreed-to-new-s   
   ettlement-freeze-but-u-s-retracted-offer-1.334965   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------   
   Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files.  We Use Hermes II   
      
      
   --- Hermes Web Tosser 1.1   
    * Origin: Armageddon BBS -- Guam, Mariana Islands (1:345/3777.0)