Tel Aviv: "Jerusalem Is Ours!"

Netanyahu confirms settlement rise was no mistake; Washington reportedly withholds weapons.

Netanyahu has confirmed, now that Biden is out of the way, that the U.S. can go to hell. As quoted in Haaretz on March 15, 2010, he told a Likud party meeting:

The building in Jerusalem and in all other places will continue in the same way that has been customary over the last 42 years.

In other words, there will be no compromise, there will be no viable Palestinian state, Israel will grab whatever it wants.

Now, has Washington gotten the message? What happened when Biden visited was nothing. This is the real insult. The superpower, in thanks for 60 years of sacrifice, has been dismissed.

There is nothing to talk about because Netanyahu has decided everything by himself. Israel only understands the language of force.

If yesterday was the time for talks between the US and Hamas, today is the time for formal negotiations with Hamas, Fatah, and any other identifiable Palestinian civil society organizations.

Then, there’s the whole “attack Iran” issue. According to the always exciting, pro-militarist Israeli website DEBKA on March 13, 2010, Israeli Defense Minister Barak has requested an emergency list for even more U.S. arms, including missiles, a request on which the U.S. has reportedly been sitting. Presumably, the arms would be designed, although DEBKA certainly did not put it in these terms, to facilitate Israeli aggression against Iran. DEBKA, to its credit, did let what looks like the cat out of the bag, however, concluding that:

Defense sources in Washington reported Saturday the view that the Obama administration, which has never cultivated warm relations with the Netanyahu government, has seized on the Jerusalem housing spat as a device for restraining Israel from attacking Iran's nuclear sites, a step which the White House strenuously opposes.

This remark should be read in the light of the recent news about Petraeus’ January briefing warning the White House about the negative impact of the U.S.-Israeli alliance on U.S. national security.

This seems to be the first hint of any actual move, as opposed to talk, by Washington to reign in the combative Israeli right wing.