Posted on 07/21/2014 1:47:33 PM PDT by Dave346
In a notably critical interview, Michael Oren emphasizes that Israel would prefer Egyptian, not American, mediation
Michael Oren, who until recently served as Israel’s ambassador in Washington, said US envoy John Kerry was coming to the region “to our chagrin.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected in Cairo Monday for discussions surrounding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The White House said Kerry would seek “an immediate cessation of hostilities based on a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement,” and stressed the need to protect civilian life both “in Gaza and in Israel.”
In strikingly outspoken comments to Channel 2 on Monday afternoon, Oren cited Kerry’s “long history” of unsuccessful diplomacy in the region, the Obama administration’s strained relations with Egypt, and the “tension” in ties between the Obama administration and Israel.
He said Kerry and the Obama administration have close ties with Qatar and Turkey, “who are not on the best terms with Egypt right now.”
Oren emphasized that Kerry, who made things worse with a live-microphone slip Sunday criticizing the scope of Israel’s operation, was “not invited” to come out here.
“It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation, it’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” Kerry told an aide over the phone on Sunday, seemingly criticizing the Israeli government’s pledge to limit the scope of its ground invasion, Politico reported. Kerry used the same word, “pinpoint,” that was employed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Sunday interview with CNN.
Kerry decided on his own to come to the region, Oren said.
Oren’s comments followed remarks Sunday by Channel 2′s veteran Arab affairs analyst Ehud Ya’ari, one of Israel’s most respected commentators, who said that as far as Israel is concerned, the secretary of state’s ceasefire trip was premature “and bad for Israel,” and that he should have left it to the Egyptians to lead the ceasefire effort. Ya’ari said many people, “including senior American officials,” tried to convey this to Kerry.
This marks the continuing trend of the Obama administration “to give credit” to the Muslim Brotherhood, in this case Hamas, Ya’ari said, except that now it’s graver, because “we’re in a war.”
Kerry did defend Israel’s position over the weekend.
Kerry told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it Hamas’s attacks on Israel are “unacceptable by any standard anywhere in the world” and that Israel must protect its citizens.
In response to a question on ABC’s “This Week,” Kerry dismissed claims that Israel was committing genocide as “rhetoric that we’ve heard many, many times.”
Kerry turned his answer into an excoriation of Hamas and continued, “What they need to do is stop rocketing Israel and accept a ceasefire. It’s very, very clear that they’ve tunneled under Israel. They’ve tried to come out of those tunnels with people with handcuffs and tranquilizer drugs to capture Israeli citizens and hold them for ransom, or worse. They’ve been rocketing Israel with thousands of rockets.
“They’ve been offered a ceasefire, and they’ve refused to take the ceasefire. Even though Egypt and others have called for that ceasefire, they’ve just stubbornly invited further efforts to try to defuse the ability to be able to rocket Israel.”
Kerry, a combat veteran, said that the situation in Gaza was “ugly, obviously,” acknowledging that “war is ugly, and bad things are going to happen,” but he added that “they” — not specifying whether he meant Hamas or the Palestinian Authority as a whole — “need to recognize their own responsibility.
“We have offered to have a ceasefire and then negotiate the issues. We’ve obviously shown our bona fides in the United States, and the president has put his presidency behind the effort to try to find peace in the region,” he continued. “So they need to join up and be responsible and accept a unilateral — not a unilateral, but a multilateral ceasefire without conditions, and then we pledge to discuss all the underlying issues, which we’ve been trying to do for the last year-and-a-half.”
This is an easy question to answer since it’s posted on the state department website.
Kerry has traveled 491,222 Miles in less than 17 months and is well on pace to break the record.
Record??
Who can be more useless Alex?
Take that, Lurch. You’re not wanted.
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Kerry is annoying. How far we've come in only a few years that Israel prefers Egyptian support to American.
Not to mention the fact that Egypt is happy to see Hamas’ capabilities degraded. And Egypt will likely keep the tunnels to the Sinai shut. The US hasn’t.
That’s one of the things I hope to change in my upcoming visit to the Middle East. Why, improved Egyptian and Israeli relations is a threat to the stability of the region. Next they might start cooperating for mutual defense and trading openly. First the Muslim Brotherhood is deposed, then better relationships with Israel, and the next thing you know, the Palestinians will be left out in the cold just because of a few thousand missiles, suicide bombings, kidnappings, going berserk in construction vehicles, booby trapped toys left for kiddies, and knifings, all directed at Israelis and Americans. They can’t dawn any new eras that we can’t take credit for!
I hope that was a “tongue in cheek” comment ... :-) ...
Kerry flies, peace dies.
A likely synopsis of Kerry’s thinking.
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