Papa Obama is offering some goodies....National Security Council Middle East Strategist Dennis Ross is in Israel - that much is undisputed. And according to most reports, he is here to work on the 'peace process.'
“Ross is here ‘to resolve the settlement freeze triangle,’” an Israeli source says, referring to whether Israel will agree to extend a freeze on Israeli settlement building currently due to expire Sept. 26.JPost adds:
Ross is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and lead Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho, the Israeli source told POLITICO.
...
Ross's visit could be about helping to clarify what Netanyahu may agree to ahead of the talks now that the Palestinians have agreed to direct talks, and what he might consider agreeing to after he hears from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and President Obama next week, former U.S. peace negotiator Aaron Miller suggested.
The White House did not immediately respond to queries on Ross’s travel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began choosing the members of Israel's negotiating team, as American diplomat Dennis Ross arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss the beginning of direct talks with the Palestinians.But there's another report - which probably should be taken with a grain of salt - that gives an entirely different explanation for Ross' visit (Hat Tip: Will).
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton reportedly sent Ross to Israel in order to settle the issue of the West Bank building freeze.
Debkafile's Washington and Jerusalem sources report that Israel has revived its military option against Iran - especially since Iran activated its first nuclear reactor at Bushehr on Aug. 21, thereby placing Washington under enormous pressure. In addition to the dire predictions of catastrophe planted on various op-ed pages, the Obama administration this week sent two big guns to Jerusalem to try and check an Israel attack.For details on the 'security gifts' and more, read the whole thing. The Reidel piece to which they refer is here. (I read most of it last night, but it's way too long to blog today).
The first to arrive was International Atomic Energy Agency Director Yukiya Amano, who explained that under his stewardship the nuclear watchdog's treatment of Iran would be quite different from the lenience shown by his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei. He promised its inspectors would henceforth clamp down hard on Iran's nuclear activities including the Bushehr reactor.
Thursday, Aug. 26, Amano was joined by Dennis Ross, head of Obama's team of Iran advisers and a close friend of many Israeli leaders. He came laden with offers of security gifts - possible rewards both for restraint on Iran and as a softener for Netanyahu to be generous with concessions to the Palestinians in the forthcoming negotiations.
Ross has taken three days to make his pitch on Iran, while Netanyahu has less than a week to decide whether he can again trust the US president's new promises after they were not exactly upheld in the way the Bushehr reactor was allowed to go on stream or the modalities for the negotiations with the Palestinians.
While preparing the Ross mission, the administration let it be known that the security gifts on offer would be dramatic and make the IDF one of the strongest and most advanced armies in the world.
Unfortunately, the notion that the Obama administration would do almost anything to bring about a 'Palestinian state' and to stop an Israeli attack on Iran (including selling to Israel some of the few remaining F-22's) is way too plausible.
unless Iran's technology speeds up and overcomes Israeli capability faster then present variables in two years it takes to get Obama out of power, I'd say go low tech. A few toys are not worth your home.
