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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| "I want to call their bluff" but you ante up - Rep. Wexler (D) |
| 2009-07-02 |
| One of President Barack Obama's earliest backers, US Representative Robert Wexler, was in Jerusalem this week trying to persuade Israelis that a settlement freeze would be a win-win proposition. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Florida). "I want to call their bluff," Wexler told The Jerusalem Post, referring to the Arab countries. "I want to see, if Israel makes substantial movement toward a credible peace process, whether they are willing to do it. And if they are not, better that we should find out five or six months into the process, before Israel is actually asked to compromise any significant position." Wexler added: "And if the Arab world fails to deliver, you can rightly say that all bets are off." Betting with someone elses lives. Some might call this meddling. The Democrat from south Florida told the Post that the Obama administration was placing America's Arab allies under heavy pressure to take substantial steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, in return for a settlement freeze. He said they were being lobbied to establish trade offices, economic links, and cultural and educational exchanges; and to permit Israeli airliners to traverse Arab airspace. Wexler added that the US was "open to suggestions from the Israeli side" for "different indicators of normalization that wouldÂ… create credibility among the Israeli public." IT IS notable that otherwise savvy Israeli and Western politicians have found themselves repeatedly out-maneuvered in attempting to "call the bluff" of their Arab interlocutors. The assumption is that if their ostensible demands are met, the Arabs will be painted into a corner and have no choice but to be accommodating. Ehud Barak thought he had called Yasser Arafat's bluff at Camp David in 2000, offering roughly 90 percent of the West Bank, all of the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Arafat said it wasn't enough - and launched the second intifada. In 2005, Ariel Sharon unilaterally uprooted all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and pulled the Israeli army out totally. He told the Palestinians: "To an outstretched hand, we shall respond with an olive branch." They replied with an onslaught of Kassam rockets against the Negev. Rest of his useless, synchophatic drivel at the link. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #1 Wexler's a tool, who, IIRC, was caught not even living in the district he represents. Will sell the Juice down the river to stay in power. F*ck him |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-07-02 19:01 |