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Israel and the West: it’s icy cold on two fronts
White House refuses to release photo after talks collapse; Miliband bans Mossad’s London embassy replacement
Relations between the West and Benjamin Netanyahu's Israeli government have hit a new low. Talks in Washington over the controversial building of new homes for Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem have ended in stalemate, with the White House refusing to release the normal commemorative photo as the Israeli leader headed home.
And in London, it has been announced that the Israelis will not be allowed to replace their Mossad station chief - expelled earlier this week - because they refuse to guarantee that they will never again seize UK citizens' passports for clandestine purposes.
The Washington talks were supposed to mend fences between the US and Israel following the announcement earlier this month that 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers were to be built in occupied East Jerusalem. The announcement was seen as a snub to the Obama administration because it came just as vice president Joe Biden was visiting Israel.
But just when the White House talks were due to start on Tuesday, with the word being that the Israelis "understood" the Americans' unhappiness over the 1,600 homes, news of yet another building project surfaced. It turned out that the Jerusalem municipal government had approved the building of 20 apartments for Jewish settlers on the site of an old hotel in the mainly Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
One senior US official described the new project as "exactly what we expect Prime Minister Netanyahu to get control of".
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs emphasised that there remained an "unbreakable bond" between the US and the Israeli people, but with no formal welcome, no photo of Netanyahu's meeting with the US President and no end-of-visit statement, the Obama administration has made it clear it aims to play tough with Netanyahu.
Leaving the US this morning, the Israeli PM claimed that last-minute talks in Washington with Obama's Mid-East envoy George Mitchell had opened a "golden way" to reviving peace talks, but neither he nor the Americans would elaborate and some observers felt it smacked of grandstanding.
In Britain, Foreign Secretary David Miliband was also toughing it out. He has demanded an assurance from his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman that Mossad never again clone UK citizen's passports, as they are alleged to have done in order to give cover to the assassins of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January.
Lieberman is unable to give the assurance because it would be tantamount to admitting that Israeli forces killed Mabhouh, which is officially denied by the Israeli government. The British say the situation is non-negotiable and, for the time being at least, the expelled Mossad man cannot be replaced.
Meanwhile, other countries, including Australia, France and Germany, are said to be investigating the possible use of their citizens' passports in the Mahmoud al-Mabhouh killing and are also expected to announce sanctions against Israel. ·
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The U.S. itself is responsible for the cockiness present in Netanyahu for always having ignored all atrocities and illegal acts by Israel.
Israel feels it can get away with anything and everything and it evident in the last little while how the Israelis have been running amuck with assasinations and murders.
If the U.S. cannot reign in Israel, I hope the West shows that it has some moral deligence and for a change act with some righteousness. Someone has to control these immoral Nazis.
And I don't suppose this hardline and grandiose political posturing over Israel could have anything to do with a forthcoming general election, where Muslim voters in Great Britain, who are more inclined towards Labour, will outnumber Jewish voters who are traditionally more conservative, by at least ten to one?
The USA, UK and Israel are experts at "doublespeak" as well as the use of smoke and mirrors, it is most likely that the object of the meeting with Netanyahu was to finalise details about the bombing of Iran. The Palestinian people are irrelevant to USA plans and whether or not Israel builds a million houses it matters not one iota.