Jan 28, 2014

Netanyahu calling Bennet on the carpet

The big talk of the day is that PM Netanyahu let it be known that when Bennet gets back later today from Poland, he will be called on the carpet for his criticism of Netanyahu's statement regarding allowing the settlers to remain as citizens of Palestine in the event of a peace agreement.

There are a lot of assumptions flying - Netanyahu is upset that Bennet ruined his "spin", his attempt to show the Palestinians as being responsible for rejecting peace, or Bennet crossed a line, or whatever.

The truth is I did not see anything so unusual or serious about Bennet's criticism. In its written form it was about 3 sentences long, it was harsh but not unusually so, nor was it personally against Netanyahu. Netanyahu's been criticized before - it is not like him to get so upset about something like this.

My theory is that Netanyahu is calling Bennet on the carpet in order to regain the appearance of being serious about his suggestion, and in an attempt to throw the ball back into the court of the Palestinians. Let them reject it, rather than the Israelis. The plan is only theoretical, so it can float out there with or without Bennet's criticism, but  taking Bennet down a notch for his criticism makes it seem that Netanyahu is serious about this unrealistic proposal.

It seems convoluted, but so does the entire story from beginning to end.


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1 comment:

  1. The proposal reminds me of a story I heard recently - a friend went to pick up her child from a home-based daycare, and saw a number of Arab workers in the garden. When she expressed concern to the daycare provider that she was alone and responsible for 5 babies while some (illegal!) workers were supplying cheap labor for their renovation - the woman replied, "not to worry - I have insurance!"

    Only the Arabs content themselves with financial payments for the loss of loved ones. And maybe not even them.

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