How else to describe this unvarnished attack on any idea of a two-state solution from Moshe Ya’alon, Israel’s defense minister:
Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) is alive and well thanks to us. The moment we leave Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) he is finished. In reality, there have been no negotiations between us and the Palestinians for all these months – but rather between us and the Americans. The only thing that can ‘save us’ is for John Kerry to win a Nobel Prize and leave us in peace … The American security plan presented to us is not worth the paper it’s written on. It contains no peace and no security. Only our continued presence in Judea and Samaria and the River Jordan will ensure that Ben-Gurion Airport and Netanya don’t become targets for rockets from every direction. American Secretary of State John Kerry, who turned up here determined and acting out of misplaced obsession and messianic fervor, cannot teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians.
I’m not sure this kind of contemptuous language is even used by America’s enemies, let alone its allies. Which is why an apology has been offered by Netanyahu. But it’s a reality check, of sorts. The Israelis are never going to give up an inch of the West Bank, let alone a viable Palestinian state. They are allies of the US only in so far as the US asks nothing in return, which is no real alliance. I admire the president for trying to coax these fanatics into some kind of peace agreement. But this contempt for the United States’ pursuit of peace is as dismaying as it is disgusting.
The Dish 