Netanyahu Continues to Defy U.S. Administration

It is unreasonable for Benjamin Netanyahu, as a guest of the U.S. vice president, to direct a serious insult at him. However, the U.S. administration is attempting to justify this insult by declaring to the entire world that U.S.-Israeli relations are strategic relations, and this administration is fully committed to Israel’s security.

It is unacceptable for Netanyahu to announce, from the heart of the U.S. capital, that he will continue building settlements in Jerusalem, despite the U.S. president’s repeated requests to halt settlement activities, in order to negotiate with the Palestinians toward resolution on the Palestinian issue. Even though this unilateral action by the Israelis is in clear violation of international law — which prohibits the alteration of features of the occupied territories by those occupying it — we see no steps taken by the U.S. administration to stop Netanyahu. This is despite the fact that, according to political analysts, the United States is capable of doing so all on its own.

This past Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, without issuing a statement to journalists at the end of the meeting. Netanyahu also met with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, without holding a press conference following this meeting, or again, issuing a single statement. Rather, the vice president alone issued a brief statement following the meeting, which clearly indicated that Netanyahu refused to stop the construction of settlements in occupied Jerusalem and that the U.S. president and his vice president have hit a wall with their requests.

No one denies that the influential Zionist lobby in the United States stands behind Netanyahu, offering unlimited support, and that this same lobby is putting pressure on the U.S. administration, making it incapable of taking any action against Israel. But in turn, Arab countries could also exert pressure on the U.S. administration to gain the Palestinians their rights. Arab countries are capable of this and possess all necessary means of pressure, but unfortunately, they lack political will; if this will existed, it would have performed magic. It would have achieved miracles.

President Obama has failed in every approach to solve the Palestinian issue. All the promises he made during his speech at Cairo University evaporated when he took power in the United States. The Israeli government continues to challenge him in a public and humiliating manner, as they announced two days ago that the mayor of Jerusalem decided, during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, to allow the building of 20 new houses in East Jerusalem for some of the settlers, on the ruins of an old Arab hotel.

Arabs can not remain spectators who simply watch the current political scene unfold. It is also unacceptable for them to stand there, defenseless, in front of the Israeli arrogance, because in this manner they will lose everything, including the world’s respect. This also applies to the Palestinians who are divided among themselves, there in the small state of the Gaza Strip, and the sub-mini-state of the West Bank. Meanwhile, Israel continues to build and bring in Jewish settlers, swallowing Palestinian land, while Palestinians are drowning in their problems and trading accusations with each other.

The world always stands with the powerful. Arabs and Palestinians are living a period of weakness, unprecedented even in the dark periods of their history, and if they do not help themselves, then no one can help them.