"Well, I just completed an excellent one-on-one discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu," he began. For those tuning in late, he added at the end: "So I just want to say, once again, that I thought the discussion that we had was excellent."That last quote is absolutely incredible. What could be a greater "excuse for incitement" than Netanyahu's complete willingness to bulldoze the entire West Bank and fill it with settlements?
Netanyahu was pleased with the pandering. "Mr. President, I want to thank you for reaffirming to me in private and now in public, as you did, the long-standing U.S. commitments to Israel."
Obama didn't even mention Israel's settlements until a reporter inquired -- and then he declined to say that Israel should extend a moratorium on settlements that expires in September. Avoiding any criticism of Israel, he instead directed Palestinians not to look for "excuses for incitement" or "opportunities to embarrass Israel."
Well, that's that. I think, at this point, we can safely say that Israel can literally do whatever it pleases. There are no repercussions, and there aren't going to be any repercussions, and considering how many in Netanyahu's coalition are barely-concealed "transfer" (read: ethnic cleansing) advocates, that fact is goddamned scary.
Mearsheimer and Walt couldn't be more vindicated.
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