Re: [Marxism] Likely next Israeli prime minister commits to more war v . Gaza

["farmelantj@xxxxxxxx" <farmelantj@xxxxxxxx>]

Benjamin Netanyahu, who will most likely be
Israel's new PM following elections on
February 10, is often held up by liberals
as the great bogeyman of Israeli politics,
but comparing his actions when he was last
PM with the deeds of people like Olmert,
Barak, and Livni, there seems little to
choose from here.  Olmert, Barak, and Livni,
have had two wars to their credit within
a two year period.  Netanyahu, when he
was PM, had no wars to his credit, just 
the issuing of volleys of bellicose
rhetoric.  To be sure, when he was PM
in the past, we saw the creation of new
settlements and the expansion of existing
ones in the occupied territories, but then
again we have seen much the same thing under
Olmert, Barak, and Livni.

It is true that Livni and Barak can talk
a good game about peace and negotiations
with the Palestinians, but their beautiful
words are belied by their deeds.  Netanyahu
is at least an honest rejectionist.
If he is elected as PM it might make it
a bit easier for Western countries to
distance themselves from Israel and if
that happened, that would seem to be a
development that we would want to welcome.

It seems that there is developing within
the US ruling class a tendency that wants
to see a recalibration of the US/Israel
relationship.  The publication of the
Mearsheimer/Walt book on the Israel lobby
was one such indicator,  the segment that 
appeared in the 60 Minutes broadcast, with
its unsparing look at the occupation last
Sunday, is another such indicator.  More
bellicose rhetoric from Netanyahu as PM
could only help this trend.


-- "Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Israel's Key Election Issue: Did War End Too Soon?

By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 2, 2009; A01


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