re: #203 captdiggs

The case has been made many times.
Some people just don’t want to see it.
There are many aspects to Obam’s stance on Israel and many actions that make it clear he is no friend of Israel’s.
But, to make this somewhat short and concentrate on one overall aspect…
Obama is the one who made “settlements” the focus and a pre condition to talks between Israel and the palestinians. In all previous negotiations the settlements were considered part of those negotiations. The palestinians have never made the settlements a “pre” condition..until Obama did.
In doing this Obama handed the palestinians and all of Israel’s arab neighbors a US approved escuse to not talk, to ratchet up the hate and rhetoric, and lessened any possibility of any, much less successful, negotiations.
In addition, by treating Israel as he has, including the 180 degree reversal on Israel’s building in Jerusalem he damaged perhaps irreversibly any trust the Israelis might have had in him.

Settlement freeze was part of Stage 1 of the ‘road map’ promoted by the Bush administration. The Bush administration actively encouraged Sharon’s pull-out from Gaza.

I call partisan bullshit. The case has not been made.