Surprise? NY Times Likens Israel to North Korea - by Ira Stoll

...The Times claim that this comparison is “only in the mechanics of alliance politics” doesn’t make the comparison any better or more accurate.

Ira Stoll..
Algemeiner.com..
07 September '17..

A New York Times column likens Israel to the brutal dictatorship of North Korea.

In his foreign policy column “The Interpreter,” New York Times staffer Max Fisher makes the claim that China can’t solve the problem of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. He relies in part on “Jeffrey Lewis, who directs an East Asia program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.”

The Times column says:

Its sticks and carrots all having failed with North Korea, China worries that increasing pressure will cut off what little influence it has.

Americans might see parallels in their country’s own troubled alliances, particularly in the Middle East.…

Mr. Lewis drew a parallel, if only in the mechanics of alliance politics, with Israel.

For decades, Washington has tried to persuade, induce or coerce Israel into altering its policies toward the Palestinians. Israeli leaders accepted American aid, ignored American demands and, in shows of calibrated defiance, often announced new settlement construction on the eve of American visits.

To the outside world, American unwillingness to impose greater pressure looks like a lack of will. When American diplomats warn that more pressure would only deepen Israel’s calculus and sacrifice American influence, they are blamed for perpetuating the conflict.

This is so off-base in so many ways that it’s hard to know where to start.

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