(IsraelNN.com)The liberal-leaning Washington Post, often noted as reflecting U.S. policy, editorialized Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel stop all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria may leave him without Israel as an ally and without Arab support. The daily traditionally has taken a harsh view of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.
“The problem is that no Israeli government -- not Mr. Netanyahu's, not even one led by the current opposition -- is likely to agree to a total construction ban,” The Washington newspaper stated in its editorial. “By insisting on one, the administration risks bogging it down in a major dispute with its ally, while giving Arab governments and Palestinians a ready excuse not to make their own concessions.”
The paper also declared that Palestinian Authority negotiators have already conceded that large Jewish population centers in the PA will become part of Israel if and when a new PA state is created. No PA leader has made this statement in public, and President Obama’s declaration that “settlements are illegitimate” has strengthened confidence in the Arab world that all of the territorial demands in the 2002 Saudi Arabia Peace Plan will be met.
The Washington Post pointed out that former President Bill Clinton as well George W. Bush recognized the “facts on the ground” of a permanent Jewish presence in such cities as Maaleh Adumim.
