Israeli leadership ignores international warning signs
The Vatican's recognition of Palestine and the large support for a committee on Israel's approach to Palestinian soccer, should serve as warning signs before Israel becomes isolated in the international arena.
The May 20 meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and EU High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Affairs Federica Mogherini raised heart rates among advocates of the two-state solution.
The almost total silence in reaction to reports that Netanyahu had suggested to his guest from Brussels that Israelis and Palestinians negotiate the boundaries of the settlement blocs should diminish their optimism and make them face the reality of Netanyahu’s coalition. If the settlers and their representatives in the Knesset and government had thought for a minute that the Palestinians might respond favorably to the new proposal, they would not have sat idle. But Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon apparently understand that the Palestinians will not agree to delineating the borders of the settlements instead of drawing the map of Palestine, with the inclusion of East Jerusalem. It doesn’t take a law professor to understand that Palestinian resignation to the existence of the settlements would indirectly admit their legitimacy and deprive them of their central arguments against Israel at the International Criminal Court. The bait thrown their way through Mogherini was too transparent and too late.
