U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro told Israel radio stations Thursday that the best way for Israel to fight the Boycott Israel movement is simply to return to negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas, who has conditioned talks on Israel’s agreeing ahead of time to all of his demands.
The issue of BDS has been flying high this week, first with the empty resolution by the British Students Union to join BDS. That was followed up with yesterday’s bombshell statement by an official of the French-based Orange company that it would like to be rid its agreement with Israel’s Partner mobile phone company because of pressure by BDS, which complains that Israel has built more than 100 transmitting antennas on “occupied land” and operates four outlets in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem
Here comes the United States of America to the rescue.
Shapiro said on Army Radio and Reshet Bet (Voice of Israel) that of course the Obama administration is against boycotts of Israel, which can count on America as its best friends.
The Hebrew-speaking ambassador said:
We staunchly oppose any effort to delegitimize or boycott or sanction Israel. We will never support this. We will fight together with Israel against all these efforts.
And how will it do that?
Shapiro has the simple answer, which could come only from a simpleton’s mindset: The problem is that now there are no negotiations. Shapiro told Israel Radio:
In the past when there were negotiations, that was the most effective tool to tell other countries, perhaps private companies as well, not to impose sanctions because that would upset efforts to reach a solution.
The boycott movement has deep roots in the Arab world, which boycotted Israel long before the Six-Day War in 1967, when Jordan fled territory, most of which it had occupied since 1948 without a United Nations mandate, and left it in Israel’s hands.
The newer “Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions” campaign started in 2005, when Israel still was in the midst of marathon “negotiations” in which it conceded point after point and to the Palestinian Authority, with the forceful hand of the Bush administration.
Shapiro may or not believe what he said was true, but he has to be given an “A” for spouting the Obama administration’s magic potion that is based on a bald-faced lie. Obama is against boycotting Israel because he prefers the “diplomatic process,” but he shares the BDS goal of making Israel too weak to exist, although his too naive to know it.
Since taking office, President Barack Obama never has wanted anything more than a Palestinian Authority country to be established, even more than he wants a nuclear-free Iran.
The President regards himself as an “honorary member of the tribe” thanks to the well-wishers of J Street and Jewish “liberals” who are uncomfortable being Americans while Israel does not do what their president tell it do.
Obama has craftily convinced himself that Judaism teaches that Arabs must have a new country within Israel’s country’s border, and if it does not, then Judaism is doing something wrong.
He has Shapiro, a Jew, and a few other members of the tribe, acting as “good Jews” to kick their brethren in Israel who simply do not understand their duty as Israelis.
Obama and Shapiro know very well that Israel does not sit down with Abbas for negotiations for the simple reason that the leader of the Palestinian Authority does not want to negotiate. He has no reason to compromise because he has the back of the Obama administration, which on the one hand says that it will not force conditions on Israel and on the other hand lets Abbas set the terms.