JustASC

Here’s the latest example of Israel’s helplessness in the face of its own…helplessness. Yossi Klein Halevi in The New Republic:

Every Israeli government over the last four decades has built in the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem; no government, let alone one headed by the Likud, could possibly agree to a freeze there. Obama made resumption of negotiations hostage to a demand that could not be met.

So once again, Israel has stopped being an actor in its own drama, but rather a helpless bystander to forces out of its control.

Would we accept a similar formula from the Palestinians, say, “no Palestinian leader could formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state — none has, and asking them to do so is a demand that cannot be met”?