JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

03/10/10 05:51 PM

The Israeli government’s inability to project a disciplined, mature position has been a “bone in our throat” seemingly forever.  No matter how professional our public relations pros are, they can’t compensate for Ministers who just don’t get “realpolitic.” An apology never compensates. One step forward...two steps back and for what, the ego of an amateur?

03/11/10 08:27 PM

First of all according to Netanyahu (who explained this to Biden) his Interior Ministry surprised him with this. Furthermore Eli Yishai has already apologized for the horrible timing, though I don’t doubt it was done for internal political considerations.

Secondly, Israel has nothing to apologize to the US about. Israel doesn’t owe the US anything. Israel does not have to cowtail to all of the US’s demands. We are our own country and are allowed to make our own policy. For better or for worse many in the country believe that building in East Jerusalem is the right thing to do.

As a side note, how can you people, as Jews, support this ridiculous demand on the part of the Palestinians forbidding Jews to live or build in “their future territory?” How can you support the notion that Jews aren’t allowed to live in a certain place, especially if that place is our ancient homeland?

03/11/10 10:33 PM

heh actually that was funny Namir…

Israel owes no apology to the United States for acting in its own best interest.  Israel is not a lackey of the US it is an independent sovereign nation that has successfully defended itself against constant outside aggression and is well prepared to do so in the future.  It is the right of Israelis to decide their own fate and it is the right of the Israeli government to expel those determined to undermine it.  The Palestinians are just such a people as are the Islamics and the falsely labeled left wing radicals.  I would defend Israel to my dying breath and I don’t even live there.  I say to hell with Mr Biden, to hell with all those meddling a-holes trying to force their own agenda on the only place on earth Ha-Shem, the real landlord, gave to a people.  Oh this irritates me!

03/14/10 01:13 PM

To Shuki and Will, let me suggest you look at Tom Friedman’s column in today’s NY Times.  An excerpt: “Message from America to the Israeli government: Friends don’t let friends drive drunk. And right now, you’re driving drunk. You think you can embarrass your only true ally in the world, to satisfy some domestic political need, with no consequences? You have lost total contact with reality.”

The issue I originally wrote about was the TIMING of the settlement announcement, not the settlement policy. Whether it was orchestrated by Netanyahu or someone else in his government, it was still the Israeli government embarrassing, insulting, humiliating the US government.  Israel was treating the US as its lackey in this situation, Will, not the other way around.  Is it in Israel’s interest to have Obama appear weak in the Arab world?  As a Jew and an American, I know the answer.  I’m not driving drunk.

03/16/10 04:54 PM

If you don’t know it the NYT and Tom Friedman are not exactly
what I would call non-partisan judges of the nation of Israel.
From yours and their perspective we in USA should not be able
to build apartments for our children and grandchildren in El Paso,San Diego, Yuma, AZ or in So. Texas because we got the
land thru a war with Spain (Mexico) and there are so many latin
people who want to settle there now. Baloney, get real. That
development in the shadow of Jerusalem has never been a
residential area of the “never a nation people” calling themselves Palestinians

03/16/10 08:24 PM

Texas was won from the new fledgling nation Mexico by Texans not by the USA.  Texas was an independent nation that chose statehood in 1846 after 10 yrs as an independent country.  It had nothing really to do with Spain.  It was France who was controlling the area now called Mexico until Mexico won its independence with the help of the United States. 

Other then that serious misrepresentation of history I agree with you Mr. Feldman.  The current leadership in the United States is a very big disappointment to those of us that helped put it in place and we are going to correct our mistake as soon as possible.  If it were up to me i would remove every single hostile Arab, Islamic, and/or Palestinian on traditional Jewish land and never allow them to return. 

Around the beginning of the common era there was as place we called Israel that the Greeks called Palestine and since the Greeks re-wrote the history of the region and cemented it in the minds of the world through its invention and support of a new religion “Christianity” it stuck.  Later the Romans adopted it as a means to rebuild the Roman Empire and as a result we have the bloodiest religion ever in the history of mankind thinking itself the father of itself.

03/16/10 08:43 PM

Mr Presant I feel I must clarify something here.  Israel had announced these apartments long before.... months possibly even a year or so before Obama’s campaign of appeasement to the Palestinians.  This is merely another excuse these wicked murderers use to continue the blood lust they have against Jews.  You can say what you like but more people read the Jewish daily newspapers then you may be aware.  I really don’t have any patience for those, especially Jews, who support the Palestinian cause.  On the other hand I don’t go for atrocities committed towards the Palestinians either.  They are still human beings and as a Jew I hold a high regard for all life...even the lives of my enemies.