"The Silver Lining"

Arlene Kushner

Shouldn't be quite this way. We should be doing what we have a right to do, just because we have we have a right. But hey! I say Baruch Hashem for what is:

Netanyahu's Inner Cabinet held a lengthy meeting last Israel and his office then officially declared intention of accelerating Jewish construction over the Green Line. Planning is for 1,650 units in Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem (which, are unclear), 277 in Efrat and 50 in Ma’aleh Adumim. This is not exactly earth-shattering with regard to where the building will be done. Eastern Jerusalem is simply part of the united capital of Israel. While Efrat and Ma'aleh Adumim are very "establishment" communities; they are on the periphery of Jerusalem and would never be relinquished by Israel in any event. The significance here is the "in your face" announcement by the prime minister. It took the PA action with UNESCO to push him in this direction, finally. So, instead of simply giving the go-ahead quietly and allowing approvals to be announced routinely, the word about acceleration came from his office. Let it continue!

All units were already in the planning stages and were awaiting final approval. Now they have that approval, a "green light," as one official said..

"You cannot demand from the Israeli public continued restraint when the Palestinian leadership continues to slam doors in their faces.

"They refuse to condemn the rocket attacks that killed an Israeli citizen. They praised the kidnapping of Gilad Schalit and have refused to conduct peace negotiations while going for unilateral moves at the United Nations."

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Sometimes I wonder how the PA leadership makes its statements with a straight face. But they manage to. Now, the PA is declaring that this announcement by Netanyahu is destroying the "peace process."

I also wonder, although I should know better, how the international community can stomach the hypocrisy of the PA statements and accept them without appropriate retort. But they, too, manage to do so.

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In fact the international community manages to do something else as well: it echoes PA sentiments. The US is "deeply disappointed" and the EU is "deeply concerned" by Netanyahu's announcement. This is totally predictable.

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While the PA, flush from its victory in UNESCO, has announced intention to apply to 16 other UN agencies. I will follow through with more on this in due course.

Here I simply note my fervent hope that our prime minister's ire will be sufficiently aroused by all of this that he will continue to act on behalf of Israel with ever increasing vigor. May he fully assimilate the recognition that no good can come from trying to deal with the PA, and that "playing the game" for the approval of the international community is, in the end, futile.

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Time constraints will not allow me to extend this post now. More -- especially with regard to Iran -- should follow shortly.

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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.


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