Letter? What Letter?

JINSA
Report #: 1,028
01 October '10

The story in Washington is that President Obama, eager to have Israel extend the "settlement freeze" for another two months, i.e., until after the November election, sent Prime Minister Netanyahu a letter offering Israel a heavy list of inducements, including U.S. agreement to:

Support the presence of the IDF in the Jordan Valley after the establishment of a Palestinian state;

Not ask for any more building freeze extensions;

Veto any anti-Israel UN Security Council resolution in the next year; and

Deal with the future fate of the settlements only as part of a final status agreement.

Plus:

Guarantees to prevent the smuggling of weapons and missiles into a Palestinian state;

A lengthy interim period of security arrangements in the Jordan Valley;

A comprehensive regional defense pact for protection from Iran following the establishment of a Palestinian state;

A promise to upgrade Israel's security capabilities;

An increase in the three billion dollar annual security assistance package; and

Commitments to advanced weapons and early warning systems, including satellites.

What a bargain! But there are two problems: first, the implicit threat that if Israel doesn't take the deal, it will be punished with the corollary that the United States now conditions its commitment to Israel's security on being obeyed; and second, whether the United States can actually deliver.

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