Post by dgriffin on Nov 2, 2009 22:10:40 GMT -5
Clinton Tempers Praise for Israel to Calm Arabs on Settlements
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Facing criticism from Arab leaders, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tempered praise of Israel’s offer to restrict West Bank settlements and announced a trip to Egypt to confer with President Hosni Mubarak about the stalled Mideast peace process.
Two days after hailing an “unprecedented” proposal from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit settlement expansion as a move to resume peace talks, Clinton yesterday said the offer “falls far short” of U.S. calls for a total settlement freeze.
Steps to improve West Bank security by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad “are also unprecedented,” she said, and “Israel should reciprocate.”
Clinton’s comments, at a two-day regional forum in Marrakech, Morocco, aimed to assure Arab and Palestinian leaders that her positive words in Israel didn’t mean acceptance of what she called illegitimate Jewish settlements.
The decision to clarify her remarks underscores the delicate balancing act the Obama administration faces in trying to nudge Israelis and Palestinians back to the bargaining table.
Israel is obliged to freeze all Jewish settlements in occupied territories under a 2003 framework for peace brokered by the Bush administration. Last May, Clinton said only a complete construction halt would be acceptable to President Barack Obama. Last month, Obama referred only to “restraint” in settlement activity, not a “freeze.”
CONTINUED AT:
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAPCjTcFQi7Y&pos=9
This isn't Hillary at her best. This is weakness. Doesn't matter which position is right or wrong. She just got nudged by the Arab world and they will remember that failing. Her boss's doing? She herself knows better.