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May 17, 2011
Bronner Can't Resist: Netanyahu's 'Hawkish Approach'
New York Times' Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner just can't help himself. He's writing about Netanyahu's ideas for a future Palestinian state, so he has to work in the term "hawkish." Today he writes:
Days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with President Obama, he laid out his principles Monday for accepting a Palestinian state, showing greater flexibility on territory but still pursuing a far more hawkish approach than any Palestinian leader is likely to accept.
As Elder of Ziyon notes:
Netanyahu has proposed something very close to the Clinton parameters of 2001 (the major exceptions being the recognition of Israel as the "Jewish state," and possibly parts of Jerusalem.) But when a Likud leader proposes a compromise that gets utterly rejected by Palestinian Arabs without even a counter-offer, it is Israel that is regarded as being intransigent and "hawkish."
Recall, also, that it is Abbas who is refusing to hold talks, not Netanyahu.
By any yardstick, it is Abbas who is being "hawkish." But that doesn't fit into the NYT meme of Israel being the guilty party in negotiations.
Even Ha'aretz, hardly a fan of Netanyahu, gets it right. Yossi Verter, in "Dove masquerading as a hawk," writes:
He spoke of preserving the settlement blocs, i.e. returning to the 1967 borders with slight adjustments. He also announced Israel would maintain "a military presence," rather than sovereignty, along the Jordan River. By this he adopted Dan Meridor's formula and Ehud Barak's position. These two have been urging him for two years to make such statements.
This was undoubtedly Netanyahu's most dovish speech this term. More dovish even than the Bar-Ilan speech of two years ago. But it was accompanied with a host of rightist mannerisms, aggressive and pessimistic statements and belligerent body language. It was a dove masquerading as a hawk.
Posted by TS at May 17, 2011 05:07 AM
Comments
Elder is right. Abu Mazen has --of his own volition--refused to negotiate with Israel since September 2008.
Posted by: Eliyahu at May 17, 2011 08:13 AM
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