The message couldn\u2019t be any clearer. Not only is the political echelon of Israel\u2019s military establishment squarely opposed to the U.S. peace initiative, it actually feels such efforts are wickedly detrimental to Jewish citizens.<\/i><\/p>\n
Moshe Ya\u2019alon, the man charged with defending the State of Israel, was quoted by a major Israeli newspape<\/a>r calling U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry \u201cobsessive and messianic\u201d on Tuesday [14 Jan 2014].<\/p>\n He followed that statement up by telling a group of high schoolers<\/a>: \u201cthey say time is working against us. We should not be alarmed by all kinds of fear mongering,\u201d the \u201cthey\u201d apparently referring to Washington and the \u201cfear mongering\u201d to \u201cthe peace process\u201d that Kerry is so damn obsessed with.<\/p>\n Read\u00a0+972 Magazine\u2019s full coverage of the diplomatic process<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Ya\u2019alon put the cherry on top: \u201cThe only thing that can \u2018save us\u2019 is for John Kerry to win a Nobel Prize and leave us in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n This of course created a mini diplomatic and media storm, with U.S. State Department spokesperson reprimanding Ya\u2019alon,<\/a> calling his comments, \u201coffensive and inappropriate, especially given all that the U.S. is doing to support Israel\u2019s security needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Netanyahu was obligated to do something to fix the disaster that one of his top ministers and closest party members caused. But his statement did not actually include any kind of apology, condemnation or really any remorse at all: \u201cthe US is our largest partner and the partnership is founded on shared values and interests,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when there are disagreements between us, they are always substantive and not personal. We work in full co-operation with Vice President [Joe] Biden and Secretary of State Kerry to advance peace and security in the region. We stand firm regarding our own interests, while promoting the important connection between our two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n The prime minister basically chalked it up to \u201ca disagreement\u201d and one that is \u201cnot personal.\u201d<\/p>\n The defense minister then issued an apology, except it didn\u2019t come from him personally, but from his ministry: \u201cThe defense minister had no intention of causing any offense to the secretary, and he apologizes if the secretary was offended by words attributed to the minister,\u201d the Defense Ministry statement read.<\/p>\n Not very convincing diplomatic damage control. But to top it off, after all that, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon got on his Facebook page and wrote:<\/a> \u201cKerry will be arriving in Israel this week, I\u2019ve already stopped counting the number of times, in order to continue to force an agreement on us. But there will be no compromises.\u201d<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think the message could be any more clear. Not only is the political echelon of Israel\u2019s military establishment squarely opposed to Kerry, to the U.S. initiative and to the notion of altering the status quo of its military occupation, it actually feels such efforts are wickedly detrimental to Jewish citizens.<\/p>\n Ya\u2019alon\u2019s choice of words is also quite ironic, considering that \u201cobsessive and messianic\u201d are two words that could (and do) easily describe Israeli policy and its most formative politicians. In fact, \u201cmessianic\u201d is precisely the term characterizing the core of the settlement movement that has garnered enormous strength since 1967 and is now a force to be reckoned with in the Knesset. And \u201cobsessive\u201d is probably one of the most appropriate adjectives to describe the lengths Israel\u2019s entire ecosystem \u2013 legal, military, political, civilian, educational, environmental, archaeological, etc. \u2013 \u00a0has gone to over the years to ensure a well-oiled system of control over the Palestinian population and of segregation between Jews and everyone else, while somehow still claiming to be an \u201cenlightened democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n If facts on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza weren\u2019t enough proof (i.e. regular destruction of Palestinian homes, preventing access to water, expanding settlements, enabling settler violence, etc.) Israel\u2019s top defense officials are spelling it out for you: ISRAEL IS NOT IN THE PEACE-MAKING BUSINESS.\u00a0The U.S. should take notice once and for all.<\/p>\n Related:<\/b><\/p>\n Bibi has surrounded himself with opponents of the two-state solution<\/a>
\nU.S. \u2018security plan\u2019: Another decisive cave-in to Netanyahu<\/a>
\nThe only two-state solution that might work\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n