Biden also calls for a halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements

[scandal 951]

Well, it was inevitable. The only surprising part was that they waited till after the first 100 days to make it clear that the Obama administration will take on the new Netanyahu government on the issue of West Bank settlements.

Article below is from the LA Times.

Here's my quick take on it, as a Jew, an Israeli citizen, and a person who considers himself to be a (left-leaning) Zionist and proud supporter of Israel. I believe that it's in Israel's best long term strategic interests to find an accommodation with its neighbors, or at the very least, to detangle itself from them and let each side run its own affairs. Israel is not leaving the neighborhood (regardless of what its enemies desire), but neither are the neighbors. Time to settle down and for the long term. To Israel's credit, it has made genuine efforts. The Oslo process was deeply divisive in Israeli society but the public would have accepted deep territorial compromises had it meant lasting peace. That failed with the second Intifada. Realizing that there really was no partner to make peace with, but that the goal of a separation and withdrawal from Gaza was in Israel's best interests, Israel withdrew UNILATERALLY from Gaza in 2005. The thanks for that effort were daily rocket launches on Sderot. Based on that experience it's not wonder Israelis fret about further territorial compromise in the West Bank, whether negotiated or unilateral. Heck, I fret about the wisdom of it too. Gaza was a little strip of land at the edge of Israel's southern desert. The West Bank represents an enormous piece of territory right in the very heart of Israel's population center. This is not a decision to be undertaken lightly. Nonetheless I firmly believe that one way or another, at the end of the day, a lasting arrangement can only be based upon some form of territorial compromise in the West Bank. Almost certainly not along the Green Line - the border will need to be drawn to reflect the realities of the major towns of Efrat, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel and the Gush Etzion settlements. A comparable piece of territory should be ceded by Israel to the Palestinians in the "Triangle" - Um El Fahem area. If reasonable people wanted to find a solution, one could be found. The problem - as always - are the extremists on both sides who inflame the issues. Well, after 8 years of Bush/Cheney ignoring the region entirely we now have new governments in both the US and Israel. One moved to the left, the other to the right. I for one am glad to see the Straight Talk from the Obama administration laying out the facts- it's in Israel's own best interests to stop further settlement activity. Now. Immediately. Let's not make the eventual disengagement any harder than it already is.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,6986104.story

Biden urges Israel to work for a Palestinian state

Speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, Vice President Joe Biden also calls for a halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements.

By Paul Richter

May 6, 2009

Reporting from Washington -- Vice President Joe Biden called on Israeli officials Tuesday to work harder for creation of a Palestinian state and to halt growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Biden, speaking at a conference sponsored by an influential pro-Israel lobby, said the Obama administration was committed to a new direction in Middle East peace efforts because "the status quo of the last decade has not served the interests of the United States, or Israel, very well."

"Israel has to work toward a two-state solution," he said. "You're not going to like my saying this, but [don't] build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts, and allow Palestinians freedom of movement."

The speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was the latest indication that, despite its commitment to Israel, the administration was prepared to disagree with the recently installed government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader, who is scheduled to visit the White House on May 18, has stopped short of advocating a separate Palestinian state, though he told the convention Monday in an address broadcast by satellite that he was committed to working for peace.

Israelis and their ardent supporters in the United States have been eyeing the Obama administration to determine whether U.S. officials intend to push Israel toward peace at a time when many Israelis are skeptical that they can go down that path without risking their security.

The AIPAC forum was a significant setting for Biden's message, and his is an influential administration voice. He has been an unswerving supporter of AIPAC and stressed that the security of Israel was "nonnegotiable" for the administration.

But officials on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides have speculated that the U.S. and Israel may collide over the settlements issue.

U.S. officials have said they believe Israel could reduce resentment in the Middle East with an energetic effort to halt settlement growth.

Biden said that from its first day, the administration was committed to making a "strong, sustained effort on behalf of peace," and he emphasized that "all of us have obligations to meet."

The vice president said the Palestinians should take steps toward peace, and that it was time for Arab states to make "meaningful gestures" to demonstrate that they would end Israel's isolation in the region.

He said the administration was committed to exploring the possibility of peace between Israel and Syria, because it could "reshape the region."

Biden also addressed the administration's diplomatic overture to Iran, saying that if Tehran rejected the offer of negotiations, it would face a future of "international pressure, isolation -- and one [in] which nothing is taken off the table."

At a time when Israel has been pressing the administration to set a deadline for its peace offering to Iran, Biden added that the administration knows "we don't have unlimited time to make this assessment."

Aaron David Miller, a longtime U.S. Mideast negotiator, said Biden's comments, while significant, were generally in line with those of other senior administration officials.

He said the test of the administration's approach would come after U.S. officials have presented their proposals, and Israeli and Arab negotiators respond with varying measures of resistance.

"Then you've gotten to the push-back phase," Miller said. "Then you'll see what their commitment is."