Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas have the perfect chance to announce a meeting next month, at the same hour that the Palestinian Authority moves back to standard time while Israel remains on daylight time.
Daylight time, or “summer time” as it is known in Israel, ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, October 26, two days after the Palestinian Authority changes its clocks at midnight on Thursday, October 24. Just to confuse you, the United States turns back the clock on Sunday, November 2.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is missing his golden opportunity to push ISIS out of the headlines with a dramatic announcement that Netanyahu and Abbas will meet at a midnight October 24.
Abbas would show up, wait around with Kerry for half an hour and then shout at him that Netanyahu’s no-show proves that Israel is not interested in peace.
Thirty minutes later, with Abbas long gone and Kerry on the phone screaming his head off at Netanyahu, the Prime Minister would show up at midnight according to the Israeli clock, only to find that he has no one to speak with except Kerry, probably the worse of two evils.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu would complain that Abbas’ no-show proves that the Palestinian Authority is not interested in peace.
The mix-up would give Kerry a wonderful chance to throw up his hands, go back to President Barack Obama and ask his boss to teach him how to lose at golf instead of losing face.
But don’t count on it.
Kerry doesn’t give up that easily. He will launch a new proposal for the Palestinian Authority and Israel to sit down and negotiate on when to move clocks forward and backward every year.
It’s all because of the Occupation.