In January, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz froze plans for a new settlement in the West Bank. Reports credited U.S. opposition as a key reason for the proposal’s demise. Skimming news Web sites, you might construct this encouraging picture: Israel decided to renew settlement expansion; the move was testimony to how countries can continue with failed policies, since Israel’s leaders have acknowledged that national interests require giving up West Bank land and allowing a Palestinian state; fortunately, the Bush administration forthrightly voiced America’s disapproval; diplomatic pressure worked. Let’s celebrate.
Please don’t. The affair amounted to slapping a mosquito while ignoring a mammoth. Since the Six Day War, successive U.S. administrations have favored a full Israeli-Arab peace based more or less on the pre-1967 borders. Since 1967, Washington has objected to settlement — but softly, without exerting leverage. The post-1967 paper trail in U.S. archives shows American diplomats endlessly finessing the language of successive peace initiatives, while Israeli governments wrote their real policy in roads and houses in occupied territory. Read more>>
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