Clueless And Proud Of It

From Haaretz: Lieberman summons envoy in U.S. over leaked rebuke of government

The Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned for consultation a senior Israeli diplomat who in a confidential memo criticized the government for harming ties with the U.S. last week.

A ministry statement said that Israel’s consul-general in Boston, Nadav Tamir, would arrive in Jerusalem next week to give a clarification to the ministry’s director-general.

The memo, which was addressed to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, stressed that the public spat with the U.S. over the issue of a settlements freeze has alienated a significant number of American Jewish supporters.

Tamir, a veteran well respected diplomat, wrote the memo under the heading “melancholy thoughts on Israel-U.S. relations.”

Tamir’s missive is considered unusual given the blunt, pointed nature of the criticism against the premier’s policies.

“The manner in which we are conducting relations with the American administration is causing strategic damage to Israel,” Tamir wrote. “The distance between us and the U.S. administration has clear consequences for Israeli deterrence.”

“There are American and Israeli political elements who oppose [U.S. President Barack] Obama on an ideological basis and who are ready to sacrifice the special relationship between the two countries for the sake of their own political agendas,” the consul general in Boston wrote.

This was private correspondence that Lieberman has managed to drag in the public arena by his ham-fisted handling as he awaits to the see if he will be indicted for corruption. The problem can be seen in two reports in the media:

An AFP report on the ABC – Settlers will never be evicted: Israel PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged he will never evict Jewish settlers from occupied Palestinian land as Israel did in 2005 in the Gaza Strip.

“The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip brought us neither peace nor security. The territory has become a base for the pro-Iranian Hamas movement and we will never make the same mistake again,” Mr Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

“We will not evict any more people from their homes,” he added in comments carried by public radio.

And the BBC report – Palestinians evicted in Jerusalem

Israeli police have evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.

Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The US has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, a move not recognised by the world community.

The evictions have been condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and also the UK government.

The US said the evictions were not in keeping with Israel’s obligations under the so-called “road map” to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

When Netanyahu says he “will not evict any more people from their homes”, that doesn’t include Palestinians, because to him they aren’t human.

This is the essence of the problem. Israel can’t continue on this path and expect to receive unqualified support of the US government or American Jews.