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| Ron Skolnik |
Ron Skolnik has written an analysis of the failure of the most recent round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the Blog-Shmog of Jewish Currents magazine (“It’s the End of the Peace Process as We Know It (and I Feel Fine”) which is well worth reading. Ron (our former executive director) cites the Nahum Barnea Ynet interview with an unnamed source in the U.S. State Department (cited last week by Lilly Rivlin) as follows:
. . . The “senior American official” cited by Barnea now suggests that benign neglect could be Washington’s policy of the future. . . . [T]he official broadly hinted that the U.S. might no longer go to the mat for Israel. Asked about the possibility of a growing international boycott of Israel, Barnea’s interviewee offered scant reassurance: “America will help, but,” he gave notice, “there’s no guarantee its support will be enough.”
Just to make sure his message was clearly received, the American official expanded on his meaning: Israel, he scolded, should, “read the map. In the 21st century, the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation. The occupation threatens Israel’s status in the world.” With negotiations dead, the EU would feel free to activate its sanctions. As for the Palestinians, “nothing is stopping [them] from turning to the international community . . . They will get their state in the end — whether through violence or by turning to international organizations.” And should the Palestinian Authority collapse as a result of Israeli economic sanctions, the official warned, Israel should certainly not expect the American taxpayer to foot the $3 billion per year bill to look after 2.5 million additional West Bank Palestinians. . . .
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