This is just another shameless American bribe. It is the Israeli government   
   milking the US Government -- and the US economy -- for all that it is worth,   
   as it has been doing for decades now.   
      
   The sad thing is, the USA and Israel have been doing this for so long now,   
   that few people see anything wrong with this arrangement. They view it as   
   "business-as-usual".   
      
   But this is not the way that it should be. If Israel is truly sincere in its   
   desires to create peace with its Palestinian neighbors, and if it is truly   
   sincere in its support of a Palestinian state, then absolutely no bribes   
   should be necessary. The Jews should deal honestly, in good faith, with the   
   Palestinians, and vice versa. There should be absolutely no need for bribes,   
   and pressure from outside parties.   
      
   Three billion dollars is a lot of money. Just think of how much good could   
   be done with that money, if it was invested instead in improving the welfare   
   of American citizens.   
      
   It is shameful to see how Netanyahu now has the American Government begging   
   at his feet. Obama and Clinton are tools, just like so many American leaders   
   before them.   
      
   It is also alarming that this latest American bribe exempts East Jerusalem.   
   This fact alone makes the negotiations meaningless, and the Palestinians   
   will never accept it.   
      
   Why is the USA willing to exempt East Jerusalem? The USA is offering Israel   
   so much. Why is it asking for so little in return?   
      
   Furthermore, the fact that the USA is willing to head off and neutralize any   
   attempts by the UN to influence the peace talks is alarming. If, as this   
   article states, the purpose of this stipulation is to prevent the   
   Palestinians from gaining UN support for a unilateral declaration of   
   Palestinian statement, then what does this say about Israeli intentions?   
      
   In my mind, it is saying only one thing: The Jews are entering this   
   agreement in bad faith, and already have intentions of betrayal, precisely   
   as they have done so many times before. In other words, during these ninety   
   days -- assuming that the Israeli cabinet agrees to it -- the Jews will get   
   much of what they want; but when all is said and done, once the ninety days   
   have passed, everything will return to "business-as-usual", and the   
   Palestinians will have very little to show for it, if anything, and the Jews   
   will continue to build, build, build, and expand, expand, expand into   
   Palestinian territory.   
      
   I will be very surprised if I am wrong.   
      
   The bottom line is that Netanyahu has Obama at a political disadvantage.   
   Obama has been severely weakened by recent elections, and he has done poorly   
   in his overseas dealings. He needs some kind of a political victory.   
   Netanyahu may be willing to give it to him -- which I doubt -- but if it   
   comes, it will be at a very high price, as we are already seeing.   
      
      
   Netanyahu Agrees to Push for Freeze in Settlements   
      
   By MARK LANDLER - NYT   
      
   November 13, 2010   
      
      
   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.   
      
   The partial freeze would not include East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians   
   view as the future capital of a Palestinian state and where recent Israeli   
   building set off a firestorm of criticism.   
      
   It was unclear whether the prime minister could win approval for the United   
   States deal from his cabinet, which has been reluctant to freeze settlement   
   construction. It was also unclear if the leaks of the details of the   
   agreement, which were widely reported in Israeli newspapers on Saturday,   
   were designed to put pressure on Mr. Netanyahu.   
      
   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.   
      
   If approved, the agreement could surmount a stubborn hurdle to talks between   
   Israel and the Palestinians, which began with much fanfare in Washington in   
   early September but soon ran aground after Israel's 10-month partial   
   moratorium on settlement construction expired later that month.   
      
   It would also give President Obama a foreign policy victory after the   
   Democrats' midterm election losses and a tough few days for him in Asia, in   
   which he failed to win support on trade and international economic issues.   
      
   The stalled Middle East peace process had loomed as another setback. The   
   Palestinians have refused to return to the bargaining table unless Israel   
   extends the moratorium. And Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton have failed to sway   
   Mr. Netanyahu, despite repeated public and private entreaties.   
      
   Last week, Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu again traded barbed words after the   
   Israeli authorities announced plans to build new Jewish housing in a   
   contested part of East Jerusalem, while the prime minister was visiting the   
   United States and Mr. Obama was traveling in Indonesia.   
      
   This proposed 90-day freeze would be nonrenewable: the United States would   
   not ask for further extensions, the official with knowledge of the   
   deliberations said.   
      
   The freeze would apply not only to new construction, but to building that   
   began after the 10-month moratorium expired in September, the official said.   
   That is a particularly delicate stipulation, given the large number of   
   houses that have begun being built since then. The ban would apply to   
   residential building; public structures like schools and community centers   
   would be unaffected.   
      
   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.   
      
   The American pledge to block initiatives in the Security Council appears   
   aimed at heading off efforts by the Palestinian Authority to seek   
   international support for a unilateral declaration of statehood -- something   
   it has considered in recent weeks as Israel has refused to reconsider a new   
   building moratorium.   
      
   A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Jonathan Peled, declined   
   to comment on the reports, as did Philip J. Crowley, the spokesman for the   
   United States Department of State.   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
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