What do you use for contraception?

[webfact]

Trump adds nuance to pro-Israel approach ahead of Netanyahu visit

By Matt Spetalnick and Luke Baker

REUTERS

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., January 11, 2017 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem January 22, 2017 in a combination of file photos. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - During his 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump signalled his presidency would be a boon for Israel and tough on Palestinians. The U.S. Embassy would move to Jerusalem, he would name an ambassador who backs Israeli settlements on land Palestinians seek for a state and there would be no pressure for peace talks.

 

But as Trump prepares for his first White House meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his administration has not only toned down its pro-Israel bravado but also taken the first tentative steps towards a more cautious Middle East diplomacy, including consultations with Sunni Arab allies and U.S. lawmakers, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

While any strategy is still far from complete, there is growing consensus in the White House that tackling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could require gentle nudging of Israel together with assurances to the Arab world that Trump will be more even-handed than his campaign rhetoric suggested.

 

"This is a case where campaign promises run head-on into geopolitical reality and they have to be adjusted accordingly," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

As a result, relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a step world leaders including Jordan's King Abdullah warned against and which would probably inflame the Muslim world - has been put on hold for now.

 

At the same time, the White House has adopted a more measured stance on Israeli settlement-building in occupied territory than candidate Trump appeared to advocate.

 

Even so, there is little doubt that when Netanyahu meets Trump on Wednesday, he will find a Republican president determined to show more warmth to Israel than his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, with whom he had an acrimonious relationship.

 

Social media exchanges have suggested a budding "bromance" between Netanyahu and Trump, who has pledged to be the "best friend" Israel has ever had in the White House.

 

As a result, Palestinians fear their leaders will be frozen out and their statehood aspirations pushed aside.

 

One White House aide cautioned that the administration is still in "listening mode" on the issue. Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has spoken by phone to Egyptian, Saudi and United Arab Emirates leaders and heard Abdullah’s concerns in person.

 

All of these countries have growing contacts with Israel, mostly behind the scenes and centred on a shared desire to counter Iran, a point that Netanyahu has often cited as among the grounds for his country’s eventual thaw with the Arab world.

 

Signalling an emerging view that U.S. Arab allies could be helpful on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, assigned to a senior role in Middle East diplomacy, has met Arab officials, including the UAE’s ambassador to Washington, the New York Times reported.

 

In his talks with Trump, Netanyahu is expected to try to keep the focus on forging a common front against Iran, Israel's regional enemy and a target of Trump's ire.

 

The Israeli-Palestinian dispute will nonetheless be on the agenda, especially after Israel's parliament drew international condemnation for approving a law retroactively legalizing 4,000 settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land.

 

Barring a curve ball from the sometimes unpredictable U.S. president, Trump is unlikely to use the talks to press Netanyahu for concessions toward the Palestinians in the way Obama did.

 

But neither can Trump afford to be seen to abandon the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, the bedrock of Washington’s Middle East policy since the 1993 interim peace accords and a principle embraced internationally.

 

CAREFUL STATEMENT ON SETTLEMENTS

 

A White House statement on Feb. 2 set forth a more nuanced position, backing away from a longstanding U.S. view of settlements as an "impediment" to peace but instead saying new settlements or the expansion of existing ones beyond current boundaries “may not be helpful" to that goal.

 

That shift transpired just hours after Trump met briefly with King Abdullah on the sidelines of an event in Washington.

 

Even so, the emerging shape of Trump policy remains more accommodating towards Israel than at any time since Republican George W. Bush occupied the White House.

 

"It seems we are headed for a new policy with this administration that is different from its predecessor in how it deals with the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian cause," said Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee.

 

There has been no contact between the Palestinian leadership and the Trump administration so far, Palestinian officials said.

Moderate, Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was among the first world leaders Obama called on his first full day in office in 2009. A White House official insisted, however, that the administration intends to develop a relationship with the Palestinian Authority.

 

All the same, many Israeli officials do not read the White House's settlements statement as a warning to Israel or a reining-in of Netanyahu. Not only does it conclude that settlements do not block peace prospects, it also says construction within established settlements is acceptable to Washington.

 

"Bibi will be happy," said an Israeli diplomat, using Netanyahu's nickname. "He can put new settlements on hold and hold off the right wing by pointing to Trump. At the same time, he can build as much as he wants within existing settlements."

 

In that regard, the lines drawn by the White House help Netanyahu fend off demands from the far right in his coalition for sweeping steps, like annexing portions of the West Bank.

 

Palestinians would be especially alarmed if Trump decided to proceed with moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, essentially recognising the city as Israel's capital despite international insistence that its status must be decided in negotiations.

 

The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally, as the capital of their future state.

 

Trump and his aides have played down the prospects for a quick embassy move since he took office.

 

MODERATING INFLUENCE

 

Some experts see a moderating influence in Trump's national security team. It has members such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a former Exxon Mobil chief executive with extensive contacts among Gulf Arab governments, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine general.

 

They will have to deal with other, sometimes ideologically driven advisers with close personal ties to Trump. David Friedman, Trump's former bankruptcy lawyer and now nominee as ambassador to Israel, has raised funds for a West Bank settlement and voiced doubt about Palestinian statehood. Kushner’s family has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the same settlement.

 

    Aides may be moving circumspectly also in hope of keeping the door open if Trump – who has touted his skills as a master dealmaker – decides to seek what he has called the "ultimate deal": Israeli-Palestinian peace.

 

To pursue such an initiative, the United States needs to be seen as an even-handed mediator, while also overcoming the rigid disputes that have scuppered so many peace efforts over the years: settlements, borders, the status of Jerusalem, what to do with Palestinian refugees, and Palestinian political divisions.

 

The last, U.S.-brokered round of peace talks collapsed in 2014. It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will be inclined to devote much attention to the Israeli-Palestinian issue at a time when it is distracted by other priorities. In the Middle East alone, the fight against Islamic State and countering Iran are higher on the agenda. 

 

However, if Trump at some point does opt to wade in where so many of his predecessors have failed, for Netanyahu – who is looking for a reset of U.S.-Israeli relations – it might be a case of "be careful what you wish for".

 

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-10

[ezzra]

 

Israel knows that they have a friend in the white house, in stark contrast to Obama

who talked a lot and did very little not wanting to upset his Arab/Muslims friends

too much,

How good a friend will Trump turn out to be? time will tell.....

[Emster23]

Nuanced? Gotta be fake news! Trump is about as nuanced as a drunk at the Windmill gogo bar.

[dexterm]

from the OP...

"This is a case where campaign promises run head-on into geopolitical reality and they have to be adjusted accordingly," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

= diplomatic speak for "flip flop"

 

Trump's "big priority" promise (first week in office even) to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem has "been put on hold for now."

 

Just demonstrates how clueless Trump is concerning the history of the conflict. Speak first, think later.

 

He will resurrect the official two state solution/ only direct negotiations without preconditions (except there are many) smokescreen and put a realistic viable peace agreement on the back burner despite all his bluster, just like every other president has done, allowing his Zionist buddies to manage the conflict.

 

Meanwhile, the Palestinian population and the problem grows, while Israel digs a deeper hole for itself creating immutable facts on the ground which will ultimately lead to a one state solution and an end to the racist ideology of Zionism. Good.

[DriveByTrucker]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

Israel knows that they have a friend in the white house

You mean Steve Bannon?

[uptheos]

5 minutes ago, DriveByTrucker said:

You mean Steve Bannon?

When you live in the only democratic country in the region, surrounded by countries that look like rubbish tips but still have money coming in from Muslim places, in order to maintain their Arsenal so they can destroy the only civilised country in the area.........sure you need friends, the more powerful the better.

[DriveByTrucker]

30 minutes ago, uptheos said:

When you live in the only democratic country in the region, surrounded by countries that look like rubbish tips but still have money coming in from Muslim places, in order to maintain their Arsenal so they can destroy the only civilised country in the area.........sure you need friends, the more powerful the better.

So you confirm that the anti-Semite Steve Bannon is the friend of Israel....weird.

I don't see how a nation that oppresses the the population of a country they have invaded and have occupied now for 50 years can be classified as "being civilized", neither can I see what is civilized about selectively accepting UN resolutions (only when it fits their destructive agenda), or how civilized a regime is that drops phosphorus bombs on women and children who can't flee anywhere  because they are locked up in a prison camp. But then again I understand that my definition of being civilized is different from others. I am sure there are people in this world who think Idi Amin and Hitler were civilized too.....

Edited February 10, 2017 by DriveByTrucker

[dexterm]

1 hour ago, uptheos said:

When you live in the only democratic country in the region, surrounded by countries that look like rubbish tips but still have money coming in from Muslim places, in order to maintain their Arsenal so they can destroy the only civilised country in the area.........sure you need friends, the more powerful the better.

Bannon, the father of alt.right, may not be such a great friend of Israel after all. He may be intent on provoking a holy war, with Israel slap bang in the middle of Hezbollah and Iranian missiles raining down on its citizens. But in Bannon's eyes they are expendable because they are Jews and Muslims. Good for arms manufacturers, good for US oil companies. Easy to tweet up enthusiasm.

 

"It's an inconceivably scary thought that the Trump administration is simply winging it, breakneck, disrupting and detonating and taking America apart - and all of it without a plan.
But here's the even scarier possibility - that there is, in fact, a plan.

A plan which would dramatically concentrate and expand Donald Trump's power, inflame and mobilize his base, whip up and and leverage racism, Islamophobia and, at a later stage, if needed, anti-Semitism, in order to slough all shortcomings onto scapegoats."

..interesting oped worth a read.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.769002

Edited February 10, 2017 by dexterm
spelling

[uptheos]

5 minutes ago, dexterm said:

Bannon, the father of alt.right, may not be such a great friend of Israel after all. He may be intent on provoking a holy war, with Israel slap bang in the middle of Hezbollah and Iranian missiles raining down on its citizens. But in Bannon's eyes they are expendable because they are Jews and Muslims. Good for arms manufacturers, good for US oil companies. Easy to tweet up enthusiasm.

 

"It's an inconceivably scary thought that the Trump administration is simply winging it, breakneck, disrupting and detonating and taking America apart - and all of it without a plan.
But here's the even scarier possibility - that there is, in fact, a plan.

A plan which would dramatically concentrate and expand Donald Trump's power, inflame and mobilize his base, whip up and and leverage racism, Islamophobia and, at a later stage, if needed, anti-Semitism, in order to slough all shortcomings onto scapegoats."

..interesting oped worth a tread.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.769002

[dexterm]

2 minutes ago, uptheos said:

Amazing example of speed reading.

Thank you for your erudite contribution.

[DaddyWarbucks]

41 minutes ago, uptheos said:

 

36 minutes ago, dexterm said:

Amazing example of speed reading.

Thank you for your erudite contribution.

It wasn't an erudite contribution.

It was a typical knee-jerk reaction.

Erudite contributions are Morch's department.

 

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, DriveByTrucker said:

So you confirm that the anti-Semite Steve Bannon is the friend of Israel....weird.

I don't see how a nation that oppresses the the population of a country they have invaded and have occupied now for 50 years can be classified as "being civilized", neither can I see what is civilized about selectively accepting UN resolutions (only when it fits their destructive agenda), or how civilized a regime is that drops phosphorus bombs on women and children who can't flee anywhere  because they are locked up in a prison camp. But then again I understand that my definition of being civilized is different from others. I am sure there are people in this world who think Idi Amin and Hitler were civilized too.....

 

You should delve further back into history to research the peoples and ownership of that part of the world. 

 

Then perhaps you can tell us exactly the country of Palestine existed and when it ceased to be.

 

Similarly, perhaps you can elaborate on which areas the Jewish people may have lived in and under which rule at which time.

 

The PLO, Hamas, and other terrorist groups are fine murdering people - men, women, children, and often soft targets rather than military personnel to further their political agendas. Whilst expecting and demanding their potential victims accord them full human rights, legal protection and treat them kindly. Those days came to an end once Bush declared a war on terrorists.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump will be more even-handed than his campaign rhetoric suggested.

Yes the wheels are starting to fall off of the campaign wagon. Politicians should be held more accountable to lies sorry untruth's they tell on the campaign trail but then they have been doing this for as long as I have been around. Nothing new but voters stay gullible to the bitter end and in a few years go through the same futility not fertility dance. 

[dexterm]

9 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

You should delve further back into history to research the peoples and ownership of that part of the world. 

 

Then perhaps you can tell us exactly the country of Palestine existed and when it ceased to be.

 

Similarly, perhaps you can elaborate on which areas the Jewish people may have lived in and under which rule at which time.

 

The PLO, Hamas, and other terrorist groups are fine murdering people - men, women, children, and often soft targets rather than military personnel to further their political agendas. Whilst expecting and demanding their potential victims accord them full human rights, legal protection and treat them kindly. Those days came to an end once Bush declared a war on terrorists.

Please spare us the old cliches and mythology. Debunked many times previously on TV.

 

The Bible is not a real estate title deed.

 

Be more concerned with the here and now of the 21st century, people's genuine suffering, and attempts to achieve a viable permanent peace acceptable to both sides. Rather than a dubious irrelevant ancient history.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by dexterm

[DriveByTrucker]

52 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

You should delve further back into history to research the peoples and ownership of that part of the world. 

 

Then perhaps you can tell us exactly the country of Palestine existed and when it ceased to be.

 

Similarly, perhaps you can elaborate on which areas the Jewish people may have lived in and under which rule at which time.

 

The PLO, Hamas, and other terrorist groups are fine murdering people - men, women, children, and often soft targets rather than military personnel to further their political agendas. Whilst expecting and demanding their potential victims accord them full human rights, legal protection and treat them kindly. Those days came to an end once Bush declared a war on terrorists.

Ownership of land is not determined by what a 3000 year old fairy tale tells me, but by legal land title deeds!

 

Palestine is being illegally occupied by Israel. Europe in the 30ties and 40ties was illegally occupied by the Nazis. The resistance which were active in France, The Netherlands, Denmark, etc. were murdering their occupiers in similar fashion like the Palestinians do. These fine murdering Europeans or terrorists were the ones that were instrumental to the liberation of Europe. They did that to further their political agenda. I am happy they did, are you?

 

Sometimes you have to look at things with an open mind to get a clear perspective of the truth, and don't let your mind be clouded by what certain people tell you to believe (let alone if you get it from the Torah,  Bible, Koran, or any of the other murder novels)

How would you feel if it was the other way around? Jewish Israelis are illegally driven from their land and locked up in Gaza and Muslim Palestinians were the occupiers dropping phosphorus bombs on Gaza? Would it be fair for the Israelis to fight for their freedom then, or would you then also call them murdering terrorist? Probably not, because for most people like yourself this has nothing to do with justice, but rather with the word "Muslim"....

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by DriveByTrucker

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

"This is a case where campaign promises run head-on into geopolitical reality and they have to be adjusted accordingly,"

This is a case where Secretary of State Tillerson and UN Representative Haley no doubt insisted Trump change his rhetoric or face the possibility of failing to even initiate any negotiations over the sovereign relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, especially with Trump's public "love fest" with Netanyahu.

[Emster23]

" So you confirm that the anti-Semite Steve Bannon is the friend of Israel....weird. "

Bannon has plenty of hate, folks can even have seconds or thirds from his buffet. He just happens to hate Muslims more than Jews, and since Jews are pretty skilled at killing Muslims, it's all good. An enemy of my enemy is my friend, at least for now.

[Thorgal]

When France attempted to organise peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine it was prompt responded by Netanyahu that it's a case between Israel and Palestine. No other peace negotiators were allowed.

If the unbalanced situation could grow and continue with US-Trump support, Israeli domination lobbyists and negotiators are welcomed by Netanyahu...

That's what's called diplomatic hypocrisy.


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[Thorgal]

 
You should delve further back into history to research the peoples and ownership of that part of the world. 
 
Then perhaps you can tell us exactly the country of Palestine existed and when it ceased to be.
 
Similarly, perhaps you can elaborate on which areas the Jewish people may have lived in and under which rule at which time.
 
The PLO, Hamas, and other terrorist groups are fine murdering people - men, women, children, and often soft targets rather than military personnel to further their political agendas. Whilst expecting and demanding their potential victims accord them full human rights, legal protection and treat them kindly. Those days came to an end once Bush declared a war on terrorists.

For your historical correct agenda :

Yitzhak Ben Zvi, later president of Israel, and David Ben Gurion, its first prime minister, both stated on several occasions that the peasants of Palestine were the descendants of the inhabitants of ancient Judea.


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[rijb]

26 minutes ago, Thorgal said:

When France attempted to organise peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine it was prompt responded by Netanyahu that it's a case between Israel and Palestine. No other peace negotiators were allowed.

If the unbalanced situation could grow and continue with US-Trump support, Israeli domination lobbyists and negotiators are welcomed by Netanyahu...

That's what's called diplomatic hypocrisy.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

Diplocrisy.  Whatever works.  It's all good.

[Jonmarleesco]

13 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

Israel knows that they have a friend in the white house, in stark contrast to Obama

who talked a lot and did very little not wanting to upset his Arab/Muslims friends

too much,

How good a friend will Trump turn out to be? time will tell.....

A good friend to Israel is the last thing that the region needs. What it needs is someone who tells Netanyahu - who is an arrogant, uncompromising, troublemaker - in no uncertain terms, that he starts giving rather than taking, and gets to the negotiating table sooner rather than later.

 

But then I'm not relying on Jewish votes and Jewish investment. 

[uptheos]

5 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

A good friend to Israel is the last thing that the region needs. What it needs is someone who tells Netanyahu - who is an arrogant, uncompromising, troublemaker - in no uncertain terms, that he starts giving rather than taking, and gets to the negotiating table sooner rather than later.

 

But then I'm not relying on Jewish votes and Jewish investment. 

What are you relying on Palestinian promises followed by Hamas rockets?

[cncltd1973]

14 hours ago, dexterm said:

from the OP...

"This is a case where campaign promises run head-on into geopolitical reality and they have to be adjusted accordingly," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

= diplomatic speak for "flip flop"

 

Trump's "big priority" promise (first week in office even) to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem has "been put on hold for now."

 

Just demonstrates how clueless Trump is concerning the history of the conflict. Speak first, think later.

The running advice is to take Trump seriously, not literally. I suppose the same could be said for drama queens and gossips.

Trump would appear more credible if instead he said, " I will move the embassy to Jerusalem, if nobody smarter than me can show me why it shouldn't be done. And I'm one of the smartest people I know, I mean, look at me: I am so successful, I put gold curtains in the white house already. But trust me folks, I know how to negotiate and I will blah, blah, blah.

This is like a folksy, high stakes version of the Kardashian show that is about to flop.