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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Abstention

Abstention

by John Cole|  December 24, 20163:51 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs

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As I have noted elsewhere, a lot of people seem very surprised to learn today that the United States is not, in fact, an Israeli client state, and that we just normally act like one:

J Street welcomes the decision today by the Obama administration to abstain from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution, which reaffirms the need for a two-state solution and calls for a halt to actions by both sides that serve to undermine the prospects for peace.

The resolution is consistent with longstanding bipartisan American policy, which includes strong support for the two-state solution, and clear opposition to irresponsible and damaging actions, including Palestinian incitement and terror and Israeli settlement expansion and home demolitions.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only end based on mutual agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, and President Obama has repeatedly stated his opposition to the United Nations – or any other entity – imposing a binding resolution on the parties. He also has stated and demonstrated a commitment to vetoing UNSC resolutions that are one-sided or anti-Israel.

The usual suspects are, of course, apoplectic, with the Washington Post editorial going to eleven. This made me laugh out loud:

Does he even read the Washington Post, ffs?

At any rate, the thing about having a united front is that you mostly agree on things privately beforehand and you don’t fuck each other every publicly every chance you get. Netanyahu seems to be unaware of this, and just basically does whatever the fuck he wants and just expects the United States to pick up the pieces.

And there are a lot of pieces. I’m not going to get into the whole long ugly history of the middle east because it is so complicated and there is so much back and forth and the discussion will eventually get derailed by someone listing some arcane provocation that really is the one thing started it all and before we know it someone will be misapplying Godwins Law. You can get the weeds elsewhere by reading smarter people, but while us generally supporting Israel is a good thing, it is undeniable that we do so at a cost. Our steadfast resolve of Israel costs a great deal, and not just in the billions upon billions of dollars we send annually to them. Ask David Petraeus and our military leaders.

American support for Israel is always in the top 1-2 reasons stated by terrorists for why they hate us (Pro-Tip: it ain’t our freedoms). I don’t know if there were Palestinans or middle easterners giddy and celebrating after 9/11, but I do know that if I had had American made bombs raining down on me for a couple decades I might not be the most upset I have ever been about anything. Now that doesn’t mean that you ditch Israel just because the terrorists say so- that would be stupid and dangerous, not to mention violating a long standing principle of at least publicly not giving in to terrorist demands. But it doesn’t mean you blindly ignore them, either. You might try to get your alleged junior partner to tone down the provocations.

Which we did! And Netanyahu has told us repeatedly to go fuck ourselves and then made life a living hell for every single American who dares to question any Israeli behavior. President Obama may be the most patient person in the world, but even he is sick of Netanyahu’s bullshit.

So, you know, we abstained. Maybe if the rest of the world all agrees on something, there might be something to it!

At any rate, Israel will just have to make do with the 40 billion in military aid we just sent them and the complete cooperation of our military and intelligence services.

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Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    And if anyone would like to cheer up after that epic rant, I finally posted my essay about The Shop Around the Corner over at Schroedinger’s Cat’s blog. Enjoy!

  2. 2.

    debbie

    December 24, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    Israel, like any spoiled child, needs to start showing some gratitude.

  3. 3.

    cmorenc

    December 24, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    Israel and Netanyahu better keep in mind that in the event any further Arab-Israeli wars, Israel has to win every time, the Arabs only have to win one of ’em. Else, Israel will be gone, forever. Netanyahu does have a massively incomplete understanding of that fact in being rightly concerned about the potential for Iran to get nuclear weapons, but has so far been addressing that concern in belligerently boneheaded fashion.

  4. 4.

    debbie

    December 24, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    Talk about bratty, Bibi’s said he’s reconsidering Israel’s association with the United Nations. Good move, take your toys and stomp home from the playground.

    ETA: No link, but heard on NPR. I don’t think South Africa ever left the UN.

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    It is a terrible irony that Israel can be so oppressive and fascist. Considering.

  6. 6.

    Kryptik

    December 24, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    @debbie:

    But more than likely we’ll get years of conservatives using this vote to explain how Democrats are the real Nazis and that they need to be outlawed. And at this pace that may actually happen.

  7. 7.

    debbie

    December 24, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    @WereBear:

    “We have met the enemy. And he is us.” Thus spake Israel.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    December 24, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    We fund THEM.
    They don’t fund us.
    And, the 51st state has long since passed the point of being worthy of those funds.

  9. 9.

    Derelict

    December 24, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    John, let me completely skip responding to your post just so I can get in a big THANK YOU for running this place, and also send you my fondest wishes for a quiet Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
    May 2017 find all of us pleasantly surprised at how well things work out (despite the evidence before our eyes right now).

  10. 10.

    Librarian

    December 24, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    And, on January 20, we will go right back to being an Israeli client state.

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    December 24, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    How will this matter after January 19, 2017? Under Trump we’ll be a client state of Russia AND Israel.

  12. 12.

    EBT

    December 24, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    Bibi’s response is to threaten to leave the UN http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un-idUSKBN14C1IV

    Likud cry baby.

  13. 13.

    Elizabelle

    December 24, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    Nope. Not interested in Bibi on Christmas Eve.

    But Merry Christmas to you and your snoring pets, John Cole.

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    J Street welcomes the decision today by the Obama administration to abstain from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution, which reaffirms the need for a two-state solution and calls for a halt to actions by both sides that serve to undermine the prospects for peace.

    David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, has attacked the founder of J Street and other Jewish moderates as ‘ “worse than kapos” and not really Jews’ specifically because they support a two state solution.

    And Trump or members of his transition team tried to go around Obama by directly appealing to Egypt to delay the UN vote.

    And yet, idiots try to blame Obama for being unreasonable.

    ETA: The term “kapo” refers to Jewish prisoners who were elevated by Nazi guards to supervise concentration camp operations. It is an extremely vicious slur used by ambassador nominee Friedman against those he opposes.

  15. 15.

    cmorenc

    December 24, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    @Kryptik:

    But more than likely we’ll get years of conservatives using this vote to explain how Democrats are the real Nazis and that they need to be outlawed. And at this pace that may actually happen.

    While Obama’s abstention move was spot-on in principle, as a matter of political judgment it was foolishly counterproductive – because he has zero ability to make it stick past Jan 20th, and it gave Trump a perfect grandstanding opportunity that refocused the dominant narrative away from Trump’s recklessly ill-considered verbal diarrhea about “bring on an arms race” and expanding our nuclear arsenal etc. and onto Trump’s support for Israel and Obama’s alleged lack thereof.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    December 24, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    At this point, I’m almost – but not quite – embarrassed to admit that I’ve got a bad case of Reverse-Cleek’s Law: the only thing I want anymore is whatever pisses off right-wingers, updated daily. If they’re having a snit about it, I’m ALL for it.

  17. 17.

    Percysowner

    December 24, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    KKK Docuseries Cancelled at A&E. They apparently were shocked. SHOCKED!, I tell you, that some (supposedly minimal) amount of money was paid to the participants in order to get access to the KKK. I’m sure they are also grateful that they could find something to hang pulling the series on.

    This won’t stop the normalization of the Klan, but it will slow it down, a bit.

  18. 18.

    HeleninEire

    December 24, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    I cannot agree more with Cole in this post. That is fucking all.

    Oh wait, that is not all. From the “big guns” post. Whoever came up with the word “Floofy” for Tunch deserves an Oscar. Or whatever you all give to word people.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    Netanyahu seems to be unaware of this, and just basically does whatever the fuck he wants and just expects the United States to pick up the pieces.

    This reminds me of something somebody here said the other day. This is how everybody treated Hillary Clinton this past election. Just vote for whoever the fuck they want and mommy will fix it because she always fixes it, oops she lost.

  20. 20.

    HeleninEire

    December 24, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    @WereBear: They have become what they hate.

  21. 21.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 24, 2016 at 4:21 pm

    @Elizabelle: Exactly. I am not in a mood, I will wait until the weekend is over at least to find out what all these guys with ridiculous combovers are inflicting on the universe.

  22. 22.

    Starfish

    December 24, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    @Jeffro: This ad is upsetting people who are time travelers from sometime before Loving v Virginia.

  23. 23.

    Yarrow

    December 24, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @Jeffro: Ha! That made me laugh. I’m with you. If it upsets conservatives/wingnuts/Republicans/whatever dumbass name they’re calling themselves these days, I’m all for it.

  24. 24.

    James Powell

    December 24, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    We’ve been talking about this Israeli-Palestinian thing for my whole life. It’s been a cornucopia of death and suffering the whole time. Every discussion seems to assume that there is some solution that will reduce the death and suffering, but quite frankly I don’t see it. I’m not endorsing any position or idea, but there is no way the Israelis will ever accept a reduction in their power over the Palestinians and there is no way that that situation will ever be acceptable to the Palestinians or the people and governments who care about them. The United States and its foreign policy are permanently tied to and tied down by this unresolvable conflict. There were chances, probably, years ago. But that’s all academic fodder. In the real world, we are just stuck.

  25. 25.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 24, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    You’re no friend to someone if you keep enabling their self-destructive behavior.

  26. 26.

    JPL

    December 24, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    Couldn’t agree more.

  27. 27.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 24, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I left a short comment, Mnem. Great essay.

  28. 28.

    Yarrow

    December 24, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    @James Powell:

    The United States and its foreign policy are permanently tied to and tied down by this unresolvable conflict. There were chances, probably, years ago. But that’s all academic fodder. In the real world, we are just stuck.

    Maybe Trump will use nukes somewhere in the Middle East. That’ll shake things up. Those tech guys ought to love him – he’s a disruptor.

  29. 29.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 24, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    Reinhard Heydrich is in Hell right now, laughing. “Likud is making our argument!”

  30. 30.

    EBT

    December 24, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    @Jeffro: Well the nice thing about democrats ruling by Cleek’s law is that we make stuff like better health access, minority rights, and try to elevate the poor. When your opponent is factually evil, Cleek’s law is a reasonable way to govern.

  31. 31.

    Mary G

    December 24, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    I am looking forward to the day that Bibi pisses It off, the subsequent tweets, and Its attempts to cut off aid. Whaddaya mean, it’s not up to me? I’m the precedent!

  32. 32.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2016 at 4:29 pm

    @James Powell: at this point, the Palestinians have selected leaders who are uninterested in a peaceful resolution and whose political power is based on constant war. Meanwhile the Israelis have selected leaders who are uninterested in a peaceful resolution and whose political power is based on constant war.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 24, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    @Brachiator: Friedman is projecting. Working for Trump makes one a Kapo, like his disgusting son-in-law.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    December 24, 2016 at 4:31 pm

    Isn’t Russia anti-Isreal? How will Trump deal with that? Russia could have vetoed this thing, right? They voted for it instead.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    December 24, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: finally! Both sides agree!

  36. 36.

    Skepticat

    December 24, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    I’m not as well informed about Middle East issues as I ought to be, but I’ve always disliked Netanyahoo’s attitude, and I was outraged that Drumpf was trying to screw up, er, make policy while the actual, real, sensible president remains in office. I was pleased with this abstention and am only sorry it will be kicked to the curb as soon as the swamp creatures can manage to do so.

  37. 37.

    EBT

    December 24, 2016 at 4:33 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Thiel and his work making a Muslim registry will be surprised when the froggos decide it’s time for the queers to go away too.

  38. 38.

    Josie

    December 24, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    This is a reasoned and well thought out post, John Cole. For this reason it will be blasted and vilified by the trolls who will come out of the woodwork. Also, there is a certain irony in someone who supports Trump and his Kushner son-in-law calling anyone a Kapo.

    ETA: VDE beat me to it.

  39. 39.

    HeleninEire

    December 24, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    So. Here I am. Sitting in my office on September 11, 2001. I am watching my city burn and my neighbors fall and jump 86 floors down. Bibi (who at the time was between gigs. He was voted out. He’s been voted back in since) gets on my motherfucking TV (musta been NBC cuz every other station had their antenna on the WTC) and that asshole says the following: (paraphrased cuz Helen was crying)

    “Well, America, now you know how we feel. Let’s kill em all”

    I lost my shit. The ONLY acceptable response by Israel at that time was “OH MY GOD America, we are so sorry. How can we help? You have been our friend and financial patron for more than 50 years. How can we help?”

    No. Bibi wanted war. And he wanted us to back him.

  40. 40.

    Schlemazel

    December 24, 2016 at 4:44 pm

    @Baud:
    Putin wants more power in the Middle East and his is the axis of Iran, Syria and Egypt. I expect Trump to fuck Israel over in service of his Moscow Master. This not only will strengthen Putin it will damage the US so it will be a big win for Russia. We set ourselves up for this by supporting the worst Israel was doing and then invading Iraq.

    That chaos will be the fall out is just a benefit for Putin.

  41. 41.

    CDWard

    December 24, 2016 at 4:44 pm

    Israel doesn’t want peace, it wants the Palestinian’s land. All of it. It also wants the Palestinians gone, either by ethnic cleansing (happening now) or by a Final Solution (in the works).

  42. 42.

    Debbie1

    December 24, 2016 at 4:45 pm

    @cmorenc: I KNEW Obama was responsible! Somehow…

  43. 43.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 24, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    @Baud: Anti-Semitism goes very deep in Russia and its allies. If you are Jewish, apparently that is stamped in Ruski passport is what I have heard from my from my Jewish friends who were born in the former Soviet Union.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    December 24, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: 2017 is going to be a great year to read more on your blog, and these essays on movies by you and Mnemosyne. Will be pulling away from following current events too closely, as have already started post 11/9.

    Art will help save us.

  45. 45.

    hovercraft

    December 24, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    While this fuck you to Bibi is a good thing, the shitgibbon and his clueless brigade will rollover on January 20. And where is the outrage over the banning of christmas trees in Bethlehem. Isn’t that a direct shot in the war on christmas.

    @Brachiator:

    And Trump or members of his transition team tried to go around Obama by directly appealing to Egypt to delay the UN vote.

    This is the problem with appointing people who don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Sissi has to run his country, and try to maintain order. He has done so by oppressing dissenters and he arresting people at will. The keg he is sitting on would absolutely explode if he pulled back from condemning the settlements. Just like the Saudi’s tolerate/ encourage the religious extremists to keep themselves in power, Sissi could not back down from this.
    The shitgibbon is going to have to familiarize himself with the concept of ‘frenemies’ his newfound ‘friends’ are not going to do everything he wants them to, because our interests do not always line up.

  46. 46.

    James Powell

    December 24, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Maybe Trump will use nukes somewhere in the Middle East. That’ll shake things up.

    Our consumer culture values “shaking things up” because it produces something novel and interesting. Like a new toy for a child. History shows us that when this mentality infects the mindset of an imperial power, corpses pile up.

  47. 47.

    Percysowner

    December 24, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    Teen Vogue Writer Battles Tucker Carlson: ‘You’re Actually Being a Partisan Hack’.

    Admittedly I only made it through 5 of the 10 minutes of Carlson being a dick, but she really held her own.

  48. 48.

    gene108

    December 24, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    @rikyrah:

    We fund THEM.
    They don’t fund us.
    And, the 51st state has long since passed the point of being worthy of those funds.

    And they use that money to buy our bombs, guns, planes, etc.

    It is as much as subsidy to our military industrial complex, as anything else.

  49. 49.

    EBT

    December 24, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    @Percysowner: He is going for the hat trick of being fired from 3 major news channels.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    December 24, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    @James Powell: Someone posted a Leonard Cohen song on the previous thread. Think its name was Partisans.

    The 1930s and 40s photographs of people in war zones are sobering. We need reminding.

  51. 51.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2016 at 5:03 pm

    @HeleninEire: NY Times from 9/12/2001:

    Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Authority, looked shaken as he appeared before reporters in Gaza to deplore ”this terrible act.”

    ”We are completely shocked,” Mr. Arafat said. ”Completely shocked.”

    The Palestinian Authority tried to prevent pictures from being taken of the marchers celebrating in Nablus, evidently very wary of the potential effect on world opinion.

    Israeli leaders, who have chafed at occasional American criticism of their measures against Palestinians, said the day’s attacks would awaken the United States to the threat of global terrorism.

    Asked tonight what the attack meant for relations between the United States and Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister, replied, ”It’s very good.” Then he edited himself: ”Well, not very good, but it will generate immediate sympathy.” He predicted that the attack would ”strengthen the bond between our two peoples, because we’ve experienced terror over so many decades, but the United States has now experienced a massive hemorrhaging of terror.”

    In an appearance late tonight, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon repeatedly placed Israel on the same ground as the United States, calling the assault an attack on ”our common values” and declaring, ”I believe together we can defeat these forces of evil.” He declared Wednesday a day of mourning.

    Kinda telling that Arafat looked like the sensible human being then, wasn’t it? :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  52. 52.

    hovercraft

    December 24, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    @Jeffro:
    No need to be embarrassed, many of are finding ourselves devolving, from our high minded principles, based on the actions of this incoming administration and it’s supporters. I no longer want to give his voters the benefit of the doubt, I say fuck them, they’ve fucked us all, so may the worst of the effects fall on them and theirs. They’ve earned it. I don’t want to hear them crying about being orphans, they murdered their parents, so too fucking bad.

  53. 53.

    Yarrow

    December 24, 2016 at 5:11 pm

    @James Powell: Yes, I’m aware. It’s sad and I really don’t know what we can do about it. They’re taking power in January. it’s going to be bad. They’ve told us who they are and I believe them.

  54. 54.

    Yarrow

    December 24, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    @hovercraft: Since they own all the levers of power, at least that makes the disasters somewhat easier to hang on them. Of course they’ll whine and blame Obama and the Democrats, but even stupid people understand that when they control both houses of Congress and the presidency and they get to appoint Supreme Court Justices, the buck does kind of stop with them. A lot of people will still whine and say it’s not Republicans’ fault, but not all of them will. Some people will see they are the ones in charge as the wars start, the bombs fall, the economy craters and all hell breaks loose.

  55. 55.

    Lee Hartmann

    December 24, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    good post, John. too bad BHO can’t take the nuclear codes with him…

  56. 56.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    @HeleninEire:

    I might have been the one who used it in that thread, but I did not invent it.

  57. 57.

    gene108

    December 24, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Of course they’ll whine and blame Obama and the Democrats, but even stupid people understand that when they control both houses of Congress and the presidency and they get to appoint Supreme Court Justices, the buck does kind of stop with them

    There are people, who still consider 9/11 primarily Bill Clinton’s fault. Pretty much anything in the first term of a Republican President will be blamed on his Democratic predecessor.

  58. 58.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 24, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    I had an argument with husband kitteh this morning. He sent me a link to yet another long article about how WWC fee fees were hurt and what made them vote for the abomination, against their best interests.

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2016 at 5:36 pm

    By the way, John, is there an identifier or source for the picture of Mary and Joseph and the grafitti’d wall (complete with watchtower)? I like the way Tom Levenson always provides that information at the bottom of his posts. (I did the iPad equivalent of a mouseover — don’t know what it’s called on a tablet — and all it says is “Banksy.jpg,” but nothing more.) I’m not a believer, but it’s a poignant image.

  60. 60.

    Yarrow

    December 24, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    @gene108: Of course. There are always some people who think that way. But not everyone will.

  61. 61.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    @gene108: the democrats do this too. Except when we do we’re correct.

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    @gene108:

    Pretty much anything in the first term of a Republican President will be blamed on his Democratic predecessor.

    True. And pretty much anything in the second term of a Republican President will be blamed on his Democratic successor (see, e.g., Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 financial crisis being totally the fault of President Obama).

  63. 63.

    kindness

    December 24, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    You gotta wonder how the Aryan/Breitbart wonders are handling the Jewish question within the Trump Admin’s higher echelon.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2016 at 5:43 pm

    @Lee Hartmann:

    too bad BHO can’t take the nuclear codes with him…

    I’m certain there are people in the professional security/defense community who are wondering exactly how much trouble they’d be in, and if it would be worth it, if they substituted dummy numbers for the authentic codes.

  65. 65.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Banksy

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  66. 66.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 24, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    @kindness: According to those fever swamps, everything that goes wrong from the financial crisis to Sandyhook to 9-11, is a Jewish conspiracy.

  67. 67.

    kindness

    December 24, 2016 at 5:50 pm

    I used to be a Two Stater. Now days the only way to be really equitable is to give all the Palestinians Israeli/Palestinian citizenship (full rights) and make the land one. Will never happen, I know.

  68. 68.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 24, 2016 at 5:50 pm

    @Elizabelle: Thanks! Moviesnob has been a great blog kitteh!

  69. 69.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    @kindness: 58% of Israelis and 51% of Palestinians still want a two-state solution.

    The only long-term solution is a two-state one, IMHO. But it has to be a real one. The Isralelis can’t dictate the terms (and demand a bunch of discontinuous Bantustans, control of all water, transport, etc., etc.) – they have to genuinely compromise. But apparently that is never going to happen with Bibi and his minions.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    @hovercraft:

    The shitgibbon is going to have to familiarize himself with the concept of ‘frenemies’ his newfound ‘friends’ are not going to do everything he wants them to, because our interests do not always line up.

    Trump and some of his national security and cabinet nominees seem to think that talking tough can somehow hide complex foreign policy issues. For example, Trump wants to tear up the nuclear agreement with Iran. But Turkey, Russia and (surprise) Iran are backers of Assad of Syria. So, just how tough on Iran will Putin allow the US to get? And it also looks as though Putin is nudging Turkey away from its alliances with Europe and NATO and moving it closer into a Russian sphere of influence.

    Meanwhile Trump is working on his next Twitter rant on why he hates the entertainers who are staying away from his inauguration. And worse, the conservative establishment, from the GOP leadership to Fox News sends out scores of surrogates praising Trump for his bold, original “man of action” approach to dealing with foreign governments. In private, they have to be praying that some of Trump’s advisors can keep him from doing something monumentally stupid and catastrophic.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Thanks very much. Very interesting.

  72. 72.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 24, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: The Tsarist secret police fabricated the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.

    The antisemitism runs long and hard in Russia.

  73. 73.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    December 24, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @CDWard:

    the thing is – Bibi Netanyahou does NOT equal all of Israel. Just like George W. Bush did NOT equal America.

    During my Silicon-Valley years, I worked for an Israeli-based Ethernet switching company. (couldn’t market for shit, but boy, howdy for engineering ) .

    Got to know a lot of smart, thoughtful, guys, all still in Army Reserve, literally have skin in the game, who absolutely advocate for a two-state solution. They ABHOR the settlers (especially as a lot of settlements are founded by ultra-orthodox, who refuse to serve in the Israeli military, then demand that OTHER Israelis come protect them.

    Just helps to remember that they are stuck with that ass, Bibi – like we were with W, not to mention the Orange Voldemort.

    There’s assholes getting elected everywhere

  74. 74.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 24, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Sandy Hook never happened. Nor did UCC. Both staged as a pretext for grabbing the precious guns of the ammosexuals, which they love more than any child, even their own.

    Fuck them all. If the logistics were not close to impossible, I’d say grab every gun of those tiny-dicked wonders.

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 24, 2016 at 6:42 pm

    @kindness: The Breitbart scum will come to the same solution to the Jewish Question as their predecessors in Germany did.

  76. 76.

    Hovercraft

    December 24, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    @Another Scott:
    Those saying they want a two state solution want it on their terms. Bibi’s cooption of the right wing is the same as the GOP’s they control him not the other way around. Israeli voters are split, but they keep giving the right wing more and more power, in effect endorsing their policies of expansion and oppression.

    @Brachiator:
    He gets a pass for the next month or so from the media, he’s not president yet, he won’t tweet once he takes office. Then he’ll see just how kindly both his “friends” and his enemies treat his demands. They all have domestic audiences, and apart from Russians, I don’t think any of them have any love for the shitgibbon. Merely and Hollande have elections coming up, and if they want to avoid the clusterfucks that have happened on the UK and here, they will not be cozying up to the shitgibbon.

  77. 77.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 24, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    Which we did! And Netanyahu has told us repeatedly to go fuck ourselves and then made life a living hell for every single American who dares to question any Israeli behavio

    It will be intresting to see how that will with Trump.

  78. 78.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 24, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    @cmorenc:

    and it gave Trump a perfect grandstanding opportunity that refocused the dominant narrative away from Trump’s recklessly ill-considered verbal diarrhea about “bring on an arms race” and expanding our nuclear arsenal etc. and onto Trump’s support for Israel and Obama’s alleged lack thereof.

    How is this a bad thing for the country as a whole?

  79. 79.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    @reality-based (the original, not the troll): yeah, it’s basically true that Bibi and Likud don’t represent Israel any more than the GOP represents America–which is to say, they control the entire government and keep getting elected.

  80. 80.

    BBA

    December 24, 2016 at 7:25 pm

    Abstaining is weaksauce. We should’ve voted in favor of it. Hell, we should’ve broken off diplomatic relations with Israel and recognized the Palestinian Authority and/or Hamas as the sole legitimate government(s) between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.

    (I say this as a Jew who harbors no illusions about how terribly the ex-Israelis would fare under Palestinian rule. At this point, horrific as it is, it’s the lesser evil.)

    Now I recognize that this would all be a massive breach of diplomatic protocol, but sometimes you just have to do what is right.

  81. 81.

    Woodrowfan

    December 24, 2016 at 7:26 pm

    The only countries that spy on the US more than Israel are Russia and China.some ally.

  82. 82.

    ItAintEazy

    December 24, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    @BBA: So… you’re saying the only alternative to settlements is a Hamas government ruling over Israel? Hasbara must be one helluva drug.

  83. 83.

    Mike G

    December 24, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    Bibi has the neocons’ arrogant blindness. “Nobody could have expected” that telling your only major financial and political patron in the world repeatedly to go fuck itself would have any negative repercussions. His practically campaigning for Rmoney in 2012 didn’t help his case either. Frankly Obama has been very patient in dealing with the man-baby of Israel.

  84. 84.

    Chris

    December 24, 2016 at 8:45 pm

    @debbie:

    Likud has the same exact problem as the crooks on Wall Street and abusive cops within the NYPD. Namely, that we’ve never told them no. And they’ve gotten so used to it being that way that on the rare occasions when we do, or even get close, they’re shocked and indignant. You can’t do THAT to US!

    So “spoiled child” is exactly right. Unfortunately we’re up to our eyeballs in them.

  85. 85.

    Chip Daniels

    December 24, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    The only thing that has kept the Mideast from being even more of a shitshow it already is, is the nuanced and complex game of diplomacy done by the various power players in the region, America and Europe.
    We support Israel but criticize the settlements, offer aid and vocal support to the Arab governments when needed, but just enough to keep them from losing face with the radical Islamist opposition, and so on.

    Not saying this is always a good approach, or executed well., but the one thing we know for sure is that the Mideast is not a place conducive to the Manichean simple minded drunk at the end of the bar thinking that typifies the contemporary GOP.

  86. 86.

    BBA

    December 24, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    @ItAintEazy: You really think the populations that keep reelecting Likud and Hamas will be able to share a polity? Who’s being naive, Kay?

  87. 87.

    BellyCat

    December 24, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    A Jewish friend of mine has been active with the Jews for Justice for Palestinians for the last fifteen to twenty years after visiting Palestine and being horrified at the destructive consequences wrought by the seat of his religion. Every Sabbath after this, he would dress up in a suit and tie and distribute literature outside his temple, politely discussing his concern with any attendees who were interested.

    The level of vitriol directed toward him for this “awakening” is simply indescribable.

    Yet he keeps doing it and keeps visiting Palestine to volunteer for humanitarian purposes.

    His courage and commitment are inspiring — especially as we confront the (presumably) horrific next four years.

  88. 88.

    burnspbesq

    December 24, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    @cmorenc:

    because he has zero ability to make it stick past Jan 20th

    How so? The resolution passed the Security Council, 14-0. It is a done as any deal can ever be. Trump can change U.S. policy, but there is precisely nothing he can do to un-do the vote.

  89. 89.

    Procopius

    December 25, 2016 at 7:58 am

    I suppose this will get me anathematized, but I have, for many years, resented the heck out of Israel’s interference with our elections. I don’t see where Russia had nearly the effect AIPAC has had.

  90. 90.

    Procopius

    December 25, 2016 at 8:00 am

    @cmorenc: There aren’t going to be any more Israel-Arab wars. Israel and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are too closely allied now in their determination to force the US to go to war with Iran.

  91. 91.

    Ramalama

    December 25, 2016 at 8:06 am

    @Percysowner: I hadn’t seen this / read her article until now. Thanks for that.

  92. 92.

    TTT

    December 25, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    Y’all sound like a bunch of Trump voters. This UN resolution was the international community’s vote-for-Trump moment: “I’m frustrated and feel ignored so let’s DESTROY EVERYTHING and hope the ruins are somehow better! Make Palestine Great Again!”

    This is pretty much the death knell for the land-for-peace paradigm which had guided all attempts for the past 50 years. By pre-emptively declaring ALL Jewish presence beyond the 1949 armistice lines to be “of no legal validity” and ALL of the land to be rightfully solely Palestinian, there is now absolutely no incentive for the Palestinians to ever negotiate for anything – which means there is no incentive for the Israelis to even think about it. So who benefits? Nobody – except for the international community’s Trump voters, knowing they got to give the finger / throw a bomb into the middle of a slow complex and partially corrupt system they didn’t really understand.

    It is Hanukkah and an American president just let the UN pass a motion that the final act of the Hanukkah story – the Jews cleaning up their shrine in the Temple in Jerusalem – was actually illegal settler-colonialism.

    I’ll never understand how liberals can see a goober wingnut Congress passing its umpteenth “defunding” of Obamacare and be able to recognize that these are just bigots lashing out in rage because their preferred methods for indulging in bigotry have been temporarily stifled….. yet NOT see that the same dynamic of stupid committees made of bitter racists from Nowheresville lashing out in rage in the umpteenth anti-Israel salvo at the United Nations. Any country that has already committed genocide against the Jews should be excused from I/P votes – so, all Arab countries, all former Soviet states, and, except possibly for the UK, all of Europe. Let’s see the vote after that.

  93. 93.

    DavidTC

    December 29, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    By pre-emptively declaring ALL Jewish presence beyond the 1949 armistice lines to be “of no legal validity” and ALL of the land to be rightfully solely Palestinian

    I don’t know what universe *you* live in, but the UN resolution passed in *this* universe specifically says 1967, you moron.

    1. Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace;

    3. Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;

  94. 94.

    DavidTC

    December 29, 2016 at 11:28 pm

    Any country that has already committed genocide against the Jews should be excused from I/P votes – so, all Arab countries, all former Soviet states, and, except possibly for the UK, all of Europe. Let’s see the vote after that.

    Oh, and equally dumb, this was a *security council* resolution…and passed unanimously, you idiot.

    Including the UK voting for it. And countries like Angola, which hardly have a history of antisemitism of any sort, much less could be accused of any sort of genocide of Jews.

    I’m not quite sure why you thought removing voting countries would change a *unanimous* vote, but that just goes to show that you’re basically completely ignorant of any of the facts of this at all. Or don’t know how math works.

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