U.S Angered As Netanyahu Rejects Guarantees

Friday October 01, 2010 19:16 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The United States was angered by the response of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejecting an American proposal offering Israel unprecedented security and political assistance in return for extending settlement freeze for additional two months.

The U.S administration presented Israel a letter of guarantees drafted by senior advisors of Obama in collaboration with Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, and Netanyahu’s envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported.

The draft aims at avoiding another crisis in the Palestinian-Israeli talks as Israel rejects renewal of their freeze on settlement activities.

Haaretz said that senior U.S officials, including Obama, are frustrated and disappointed by the conducts of Netanyahu.

A White House official said that the Obama administration “is not buying the claims of Netanyahu” as the he states that internal political conflicts in his coalition prevent him from extending the freeze on settlement activities.

Last week, a senior European official stated during a meeting in New York that the Americans consider the conducts of Netanyahu as a humiliation to Obama, and that they cannot understand how can Netanyahu treat Israel’s biggest ally this way.

Haaretz also said that US ambassador Dennis Ross felt that Netanyahu was humiliating him and the U.S administration.

On Tuesday, Ross and the head of Middle East Division at the White House, Dan Shapiro, held a meeting at the White House with U.S senators and Jewish congress members informing them on the latest development and the Document of Guarantees presented by the United States to Israel.

Ross stated that he was astonished by the Israeli rejection to this document, especially since the United States offered utmost and unprecedented support to Israel.

This letter was published by researcher David Makovsky on the official webpage of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Some of the guarantees promised by the U.S. include pledging to allow Israel to retain permanent military presence in the occupied Jordan Valley, even after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

This move, according to the letter, comes to guarantee weapons are not smuggled from Jordan into the West Bank.

The White House also pledged not to ask Israel for another settlement freeze extension, in addition to pledging that settlements would only be dealt with in the final-status peace negotiations. This is besides a implicit vow to veto any Security Council resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict this year.

The U.S. would also provide Israel with advanced defense capabilities and increase security aid after a permanent peace deal is signed. This includes granting Israel advanced fighter jets, early warning and surveillance systems, including advanced satellite systems.

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