Sunday, March 21, 2010

COMMENTARY: To Build or Not to Build, That Is the Question .... That Israel Must Decide

Following two weeks of unprecedented tension between the United States and Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with United States President Barack Obama at the White House on March 23,2010, in an effort to reconcile this dilemma.

This tension is a by-product of Israel's announcement two weeks ago that it plans to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. Israel's announcement has resulted in derailing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, in addition to enraging the Obama Administration.

Nonetheless, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated to the Israeli Cabinet today (March 21, 2010) that Israel will indeed build housing units in East Jerusalem. Apparently, Netanyahu prefers to have housing units built in East Jerusalem, rather than having a harmonious relationship with the United States and peace with the Palestinians.

Moreover, the fact that Israel captured this part of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War with its Arab neighbors in 1967 does not seem to be of any concern to Netanyahu. Nor does it bother him that the majority of the United Nations members voted in 1980 -- and several times thereafter -- that actions taken by Israel to impose its laws, jurisdictions, and administration on Jerusalem are illegal and have no validity.

The United States has been Israel's most important ally since Israel became an independent nation in 1948. The United States has provided Israel with a plethora of the most modern military paraphernalia, as well as ample foreign aid, despite the hostile ramifications that this favored Israeli treatment has had on the United States from many Arab countries.

For Netanyahu to have no empathy about betraying the United States -- and America's persistent efforts to attain a permanent peace in the Middle East -- because he would rather have Israel build housing in East Jerusalem, can indeed be compared to Judas's betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver!

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