The Likud government of Israel and its powerful supporters in the United States are making it clear that they will resist – and undercut – any serious effort by the Obama administration to broker a peace deal with the Palestinians if it requires major concessions from Israel.
In the view of Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Israel has become “addicted” to its role as the occupier of the Palestinian Territories and won’t face up to its addiction unless a “real friend” from the outside forces it to change its ways.
(The story summary continues below.)
But Levy is not optimistic. He believes the powerful Jewish Lobby in the United States, backed by a Christian Right Lobby, will frustrate any attempts by the Obama administration to intervene and, in Levy’s analogy, force Israel into a rehab program.
By supposedly protecting Israel from such pressure, AIPAC and other lobbying forces may feel they are acting as Israel’s friend, but Levy says the friendship is akin to helping an addict get more drugs.
TheRealNews.com is an independent news network that produces stories of global interest.
Consortiumnews.com
is a product of The Consortium for Independent Journalism, Inc., a non-profit organization
that relies on donations from its readers to produce these stories and keep alive this Web
publication.