Washington Post Editorial: Mr. Netanyahu’s sudden shift rightward

[Little Tich]

Source: Washington Post

ISRAELI PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces what looks to him like a serious diplomatic threat: that Western powers, including the United States, will soon launch a multilateral effort to formulate a plan for Palestinian statehood. France is convening a meeting of foreign ministers this week to discuss a possible Middle East peace conference. President Obama is said to be weighing whether to support a U.N. Security Council resolution later this year spelling out terms for a two-state solution. Israel has long opposed any such international initiative, worrying that it would produce results it found unacceptable.

Several months ago, Mr. Netanyahu embarked on a political project that looked as though it could head off the outside intervention. The result, after several twists and turns, has been to make it more likely. Mr. Netanyahu tried to strengthen and moderate his fragile right-wing coalition by striking a deal with the leader of the left-wing Labor Party; as part of the bargain, his government would have stopped supporting settlement expansion in most of the West Bank and embraced an Egyptian offer to broker talks with the Palestinians.

Then the prime minister abruptly switched course. Talks with Labor were suspended, and on Monday, the parliament ratified his appointment of Avigdor Lieberman, a hard-line nationalist with an abysmal international reputation, as defense minister. Mr. Lieberman’s party will join the government coalition, while Labor will remain in the opposition. Its leader, Isaac Herzog, bitterly accused Mr. Netanyahu of losing his nerve “at the moment of truth.”

That may not be entirely fair. Mr. Herzog ran into considerable opposition to the proposed merger from his own party, and Mr. Netanyahu faced a rebellion from the right. As David Makovsky and Dennis Ross of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy observed, the episode served to demonstrate “how deeply polarized Israel has become.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-netanyahus-sudden-shift-of-course/2016/06/01/08e781bc-2772-11e6-ae4a-3cdd5fe74204_story.html

[gordianot]

1. Given the current circumstances in America.

To a degree I understand.

[bemildred]

2. "Sudden" my ass. nt

[Israeli]

3. LOL ....

I read the title of the OP and thought ...............what ? !!!
Bibi was born and bred right wing .........he has always been right wing .

" "Sudden" my ass. nt " .....indeed .

[bemildred]

4. It's been kind of obvious to anyone with their eyes open since Sharon went to the

Temple Mount. Oslo was the deal that was to be had. It still is.

[Israeli]

5. You shouldnt compare them .....

Bibi is a different story altogether from Arik Sharon .......Oslo is dead , it died with Rabin .

[bemildred]

6. I do agree about that, quite different.

Arik was an asshole, but consistent and not stupid. Israel would have been better off if he had not been taking blood thinners. Bibi is a weasel, and not smart either.

Oslo was still theoretically alive in the late 90s, I remember the tourism commercials: "Come to Israel" with everybody happy happy happy. That all stopped when the intifada started. Hmm. But I should not argue with you, you are there and the date does not matter. That was what marked it for me here. Which was also when I found DU and had time to read widely.

Yeah, Rabin. Kennedy, Kennedy, KIng, to name a couple here. We get the government we deserve.

[Israeli]

7. Rabin was assassinated November 4, 1995.....

.....at the end of a rally in support of the Oslo Accords .

Rabin, despite his extensive service in the Israeli military, was disparaged personally by right-wing conservatives and Likud leaders who perceived the Oslo peace process as an attempt to forfeit the occupied territories.

National religious conservatives and Likud party leaders believed that withdrawing from any "Jewish" land was heresy. Rallies, organized partially by Likud, became increasingly extreme in tone. Likud leader (and future Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu accused Rabin's government of being "removed from Jewish tradition ... and Jewish values." Netanyahu addressed protesters of the Oslo movement at rallies where posters portrayed Rabin in a Nazi SS uniform or being the target in the cross-hairs of a sniper.[2] Rabin accused Netanyahu of provoking violence, a charge which Netanyahu strenuously denied.[3]

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin

" Oslo was still theoretically alive in the late 90s, I remember the tourism commercials: "Come to Israel" with everybody happy happy happy. That all stopped when the intifada started. "

Oslo died with Rabin .........its why he died .
Yeah ....................we were all " happy happy happy."

You are talking about the Second Intifada :

It started in September 2000, when Ariel Sharon made a visit to the Temple Mount

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada

Yeah, Rabin. Kennedy, Kennedy, KIng .....................dont forget Anwar Sadat.

[bemildred]

8. And indeed Sadat.

I suppose what I mean about Oslo is they were still talking about it as though it was alive, that went on well into the 00's, here anyway. But yeah nobody believed it, I didn't. It was pretty "transparent".

Edit: specifically I remember seeing and participating in long discussions here about whether Oslo was really dead well into the 00s.

[Israeli]

9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be .....

....shot in the head,.... or back , or like Sadat ...all over where ever .

Trust me its dead .........as dead as The Geneva Accord :

http://www.geneva-accord.org/mainmenu/english

As dead as the French initiative.

As long as Bibi , Bennet and now Avigdor Lieberman are in charge ....peace means this :


https://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/weeks-end-toon-israels-new-two-state-solution/cjjt6glwsaepw5v/