In his famous Cairo speech last spring, Obama demanded that the Israelis freeze the expansion of settlements on the West Bank. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu refused to freeze the settlements, and Secretary of State Clinton nicely praised Netanyahu for his pursuit of peace.
Last month Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced he would resign and that the Palestinians would simply declare themselves a state, which resulted in threats from the Israelis and virtual silence from the Administration.
Recently, Obama’s mediator for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict told the Israelis that the United States opposed expanding the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem.
So the Israelis promptly approved the expansion.
Obama gets punked at every turn by the Israelis. One would think that the fact we give Isreal $4 billion dollars in aid every year would count for something.
Now is the time to apply pressure on them before being a doormat becomes a habit.
