Via Friday-Lunch-Club
".... In their second call, the Israeli prime minister gave a detailed explanation of what happened.... . The two leaders' third call was to discuss and coordinate strategy on how to deal with Monday's emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council,..... Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak .....The U.S. effort to pare down the language of the Security Council statement condemning "acts" related to the effort was also a success, according to the Israeli official. "Definitely the Americans were making an effort, maybe they didn't get as much as we hoped, but they got a lot," the official said. "We'd like to express our thanks to the United States that worked behind the scenes to water down the [statement] at the United Nations," said Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman.Those efforts were led by U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and her deputy,Alejandro Wolff. A key point of contention in the Security Council was whether there would be an outside investigation of the Miva Marmara affair, or whether it would be sufficient that Israel conduct its own inquiry. The United State has "every confidence that Israel can conduct a credible and impartial, transparent, prompt investigation internally," Wolff told reporters today.Although Israel has not issued any official reaction, the officials saw three main changes between the first draft circulated by Turkey and the final draft adopted, which they credit to the work of the U.S. delegation. First, there was no mention of an independent investigation. Second, there was no time limit placed on the investigation. Third, there was no direct condemnation of Israel...The White House announced the visit as a presidential delegation to the Palestinian investment conference. The delegation will include Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin, top USAID official Alonzo Fulgham, Mitchell's deputy Mara Rudman, and Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine..."
Posted by G, Z, or B at 4:23 PM
"'We're the only ones who believe them'"
A delicate diplomatic maneuver by President Barack Obama to smooth frayed relations with Israelwithout alienating America’s Arab allies may have been blown out of the water Monday morning by Israel’s botched attempt to enforce the Gaza blockade — and by the lack of condemnation from Washington that followed it.For while much about the incident remains unclear, a day of carefully parsed statements from the White House and State Department left at least one irrefutable aftershock: With much of the world expressing fury over the raid, the contrast with Washington’s muted response could not have been more striking.“The situation is that they’re so isolated right now that it’s not only that we’re the only ones who will stick up for them,” said an American official. “We’re the only ones who believe them — and what they’re saying is true.”The official was referring to Israeli protestations — backed by Israeli Defense Forces video — that their solders were attacked by passengers on a ship headed for Gaza with humanitarian aid, when they boarded the ship in what the Israelis concede were international waters. .....The charm offensive appears to have worked. But an administration that itself has expressed its own fury toward Netanyahu and his government in the past now finds itself close to sharing Israel’s isolation at the moment — a dynamic that could complicate Obama’s outreach to the rest of the region. ....The White House, in sharp contrast, avoided any hint of criticism of the Israeli action in its public statements, and American officials appeared sympathetic to Israeli explanations that their soldiers were attacked by flotilla participants....The immediate upshot of the statements from the United States and other countries is that Obama, perhaps surprisingly, finds himself in the same posture as his predecessors over the past 60 years — one that holds that the U.S. is far more willing to give the Israelis the benefit of the doubt on matters of security......Observers of the process expect the U.S. to attempt to craft a resolution that doesn’t condemn Israeli directly and doesn’t establish any international investigation, like an earlier inquiry into Israel’s actions in Gaza led by the former South African Judge Richard Goldstone..."
Posted by G, Z, or B at 12:14 PM
Uprooted Palestinian
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