updated
Clinton has issued yet another statement on Israeli settlements trying to get herself out of what she said this weekend. That one didn’t go over very well.
“This offer falls far short of what our preference would be but if it is acted upon it will be an unprecedented restriction on settlements and would have a significant and meaningful effect on restraining their growth.” – Clinton: Israel’s settlement offer falls short of U.S. wishes
This is what jumbled diplomacy looks like. To add to the mix, Ben Smith has now judged Clinton a “liability for the administration.”
To recap, standing beside Netanyahu over the weekend Clinton pretty much praises Israel’s “unprecedented” efforts towards ending settlements; today at a conference of Arab foreign ministers she says Netanyahu hasn’t gone far enough. All of this coming after Obama’s line in the sand that Clinton repeated.
Laura Rozen has more.
Clinton will meet with several Arab leaders including Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who won’t buy what Netanyahu is pushing on settlements, which he made clear last spring at the Saudi conference I attended.
Damage done.
“I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed … with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done,” Moussa told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Morocco.
Amr Moussa is the Arab League’s Secretary-General, the leader of a group that is attempting to shore up Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and not just because of January elections. Against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s continued stall, but also the Goldstone report, a united Arab front was required. Though it’s clear that with elections coming we’re at yet another stalling out of negotiations, this one even more serious.
Pres. Obama came in with capital that has now been diminished, partially due to domestic challenges he misjudged, but also because he has not been willing to spend that capital personally since his Cairo speech. In the Middle East among Arabs, at least for now, hope has sputtered out.
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