It is high time for Israel to end its illegal settlements' building. It is also time for Israel to become an honorable and moral member of the international community. No honest broker country can support such ignominious behaviour as Israel's.

Who would/could talk peace with them as they continue to disregard its friends and international law?

Censure and ostracize them for the bad guys they are.

It is not really Americas decision about Israel's domestic policy, America is an important ally and friend yet they cannot decide crucial things for Israel. The main point is that this plan is in the areas which are not even considered to be settlements in the eyes of the Israeli left, this is a neighborhood which would for certin stay under Israel's rule if there will ever be a peace agreement and all the palestinian leadership knows this.
This was just an excuse to start a fight suck up to the arabs, or maybe try to change the Israeli leadership, but what obama does not understand is that the Israeli public is more united now because of the extreme american reaction. Because of this the arabs decided they can't have peace talks, that is a joke, they refused to talk while there is bulding going on in the west bank , it has never stopped them before. What people don't realize is that there is not one palestinian entity there are two one in gaza and one in the west bank, first they should make peace with each other. Eli Yishai will not quit or be fired otherwise the government will fall.

the location of the 1,600 apartment units in jerusalem that so "insulted" president obama was included even on yasser arafat's map used with then prime minister barak at the camp david negotiations. does president obama tell mr. abbas where the palestinians can build apartments?

this blow up is not prompted by israel; rather, it is prompted by the failure of president obama's always-doomed initiative towards iran. it is a take-off on wag the dog, where mr. obama is pulling the israeli dog's tail to divert our attention from the fact that he has failed to stop iran from pushing forward on its quest for a nuclear weapon that the president faux-claims he finds, "unacceptable."

no good will come of this. the palestinians and the israelis talked directly with each other since oslo. then, mr. obama made it a pre-condition of talks for the israelis to stop building settlements. the direct negotiations stopped. now, the indirect negotiations will also stop, and this morning's news reports are of palestinian riots. it may not stop there.

mr. obama's tirade has therefore, 1. put a further roadblock in the roadmap; 2. inflamed passions that might develop into a third intifada or even a wide-ranging war; and 3. by pushing israel away, increasing the chances that israel will act unilaterally in dealing militarily with iran.

on the surface, picking on israel has little international cost for mr. obama. let us hope the president knows how to force back in whatever may come out of pandora's box.

keevan d. morgan, esq., chicago

I cannot believe the ignorance of basic facts by Mr. Makovsky and those people who are apologists for Israel. Yes, it is true that Israel has had no change in policy regarding the occupied territories since 1967. The wholesale dismemberment of Palestinian lands has continued unabated for the greed and profit of Israeli real estate developers. And it appears that the Israeli government's ultimate aim is to reduce Palestinian territory to such tatters that it resembles Bantustan in the bad old Union of South Africa.

What the Israeli apologists ignore is the fact that the United States is currently involved in fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and every day our brave soldiers die because all Muslims are enraged that we appear to be nothing more than pets of the Israelis on the issue of West Bank development.

Yesterday, this website revealed the fact that Admiral Mullen and Gen. David Petraeus both agree that Israel's callous disregard of its 1967 borders is a national security threat to our troops. How can the United States appear to act in good faith towards our Afghani, Iraqi, (and Pakistani) allies if they see Israel's largest financial benefactor just roll over and play dead over yet more Israeli land grabbing from Palestinians who have occupied their lands for thousands of years.

For Mr. Maykovsky to say that this is a short term problem requiring only the stepping down of the Israeli Minister of Interior is like saying that a patient's cancer can be effectively treated by pain pills alone. Israel and its apologists need to realize that this blatant action on the part of the Netanahyu government is quite possibly the straw that breaks the camel's back vis a vis American-Israeli relations.

AIPAC, JINSA and its supporters are a very tiny minority of the American community when compared to the US Department of Defense. And Israel needs to realize that until it renounces further colonialization of the West Bank and the areas outside of its 1967 borders once and for all, it will be doing its national interests far more harm than good not only with its Arab neighbors but with the United States of America.

When a general contractor wants to build or expand a housing development in my town, or yours, it is usually referred to as a housing development -- not a settlement.

The people who will live in these homes are not "settlers" -- they are middle-class families, Jews and Moslems and Christians, some of them Arabs, all of them Israeli citizens or legal residents of Israel. And the land these houses will be built on has been legally annexed as part of Israel.

This is not a SNAFU, except on the part of the Obama administation which keeps talking when neither Arabs nor Israelis are listening. Netanyahu might make a private phone call to Joe Biden, but there is no reason for him to say anything publicly that might pull Obama's and Clinton's asses out of the fire.

Nothing brings out the crazies like an aritcle on the Israel-Palestine conflict. On most articles, the posts are fairly intelligent and reasonable, but not on these. FP should give articles on Israel-Palestine irrelevent titles, so the crazies, who trawl the internet for ranting space, dont find them.

When I saw the title, I expected Mr. Makovsky to offer some insights of historical and sociological value. But my God, this guy is just interested in hair cream and tooth whitener so both countries can look great with smiles.

Certainly the article Settlement Snafu is a BIG intellectual disappointment.
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Settlements are a problem. They will continue to be. They have been since the turn of the century, THE 20TH CENTURY. This ABSURD fight which brokeout while the PLA holds 'reconciliation' talks with HAMAS begs the real questions.

The Palestinian people freely elected govts which are lead by those who don;t believe a holocaust of 6,000,0000+ happened (PLA- ABBAS), and wish Hitler had finished the job (HAMAS) and believe all of ISrael is a waqf consecrated by god to them forever.

Certainly as long as HAMAS exists, NO PEACE IS POSSIBLE. PERIOD. No serious negotiation is going to be tolerated. Even the PLA will not relinquish right of return. That is code for no Israel which is a position supported by the Palestinian peoples in their votes.

In other words, it is a religious war of the peoples. Which is why no negotiation has ever worked, EXCEPT BETWEEN SECULAR ENTITIES such as states.

Which brings us back to settlements and this micro-absurdity. Settlements exist because Israel WON in 67, and other entities and govts refused to negotiate for peace. Had Israel not won, there would be no settlement problem, and no Israel. The arabs could have had peace any moment since 1937. That there is none REMAINS because the PEOPLES themselves will not accept that there MUST be an Israel.

On the day the PLA wipes out HAMAS we may get somewhere. But don't hold your breath for a new Night of the Long Knives.

Obama and his moronic appointees are delusional for picking a fight over something which can lead NOWHERE.

Why do I continuously feel like an adult watching a nation full of children playing near the road with traffic ever so close and danger becoming increasingly unavoidable...? I am a 37 year old southern boy who apparently is the only one who payed attention in History classes.
Do you even remember why this property is under Israel control today??
If your neighbors fought you in court over your land and vowed to take your entire house, but you succeeded in winning the case and even managed to take a few feet of theirs just so they remembered not to mess with you again, wouldnt you feel totally justified?? I am stunned at the cultural cowardness we have drifted into in the United States... Our leadership or so called "leadership" Obiden (not a spelling error), should be embarrassed... What does he want? Am I supposed to give a "crumb of bread" that his foollish pride has been wounded?? He is a disaster to our foreign policy and I am embarrassed every day by him... The 6-day war was a bad decision for the Middle East to attempt. I am sure they thought it would be the 6 hour war, but they thought wrong...) The Palestinians will now pay the price for the stupidity of a culture who once again tried to wipe out this seamingly small, but powerful nation of Israel. God is with Israel and the world doesnt like it... Bottom Line!!
I want everyone to take note that the White house has mentioned Israel twice in their foreign policy blog as being " intransigent". This is very likely a subtle clue on what this administration thinks about Israel. If you ask Dictionary . Com to use this word in a sentence this is what you get: "Don't waste your time trying to change his mind, he's completely intransigent"... I think it is time to wake up America. If not for outspoken people like us who refuse to watch silently with cowardice and lack of loyalty, this Administration would turn on Israel in a heartbeat.... The Terrorists who have attacked our nation are the same ones who oppose israel... Why in the H_LL are we being so blind?? I dont get it.. I am not the intellectual elite of the US and even I see how distracted we are becoming... Wake Up!!!
We are on the same team... Our so called Leadership is very methodically trying to pin an association between "Israel taking a stand for their rights" and the "safety of American lives"?? They are so backwards that it raises red flags all over the place... Something has gone wrong and nobody is seeing it... Why?? It is highlighted and Bold Faced... Who cares what the Muslim leaders think about us?? They need to worry about what we think about them.. When did the US become so "watered down" that we make decision based on what they are saying to our Generals?? When did that become the way we make foreign policy decisions?? Am I making sense or have you all watched too much American Idol?? Man, I feel like the parent who knows that the kids are playing too close to the road and they might whine when I say "Get back from the street!!!" but SO WHAT! It might keep them from getting run over...
History Repeats my friends... becasue we are a people who are prone to forget every bad decision and the pain that it casues once the full effect of that decision has played out... Help me find a voice... This message has got to be made loud and clear to the American People... We have been lulled to sleep in the arms of a dangerous, self centered, instant gratification Administration who has come into our home and set up values and systems that are not the ones our Fathers raised us with... Why do we sit back and watch it without saying anything??? We always speak up loud when its too late... Once the jumper has let gravity take over, then we say "We should have tried to talk him down"... Sometimes it is just too late, but somebody watched the jumper climb up the building or the bridge or whatever analogy you want to use. Someone had a clue what he was thinking or feeling... But we always get our jaws locked up by inconveneience... but after we see the result of our lack of "speaking up"... We always say "I would have, could have & should have".... Quit acting like it is someone elses responsibility...

"If there was no mechanism, the Israelis are guilty of duplicity. If there was a mechanism that failed to function, it is ineptitude."

Well, I wonder. Which could it be?

Israel is the least trustworthy "ally" the U.S. currently has, excepting perhaps Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. What other American ally routinely spies on us, lies to us, and forces us to sacrifice so much goodwill around the world ... and for what? They let Intel build a chip plant there, and pay them money? Well goodness gracious, they'll charitably take our money and investment, it must be no coincidence that Samaria is located in the Holy Land.

These snafus have an even more pernicious effect than simply convincing the rest of the world that the U.S. is hopelessly in the thrall of Israel policy. It makes us look, correctly, like we are idiots who are ceaselessly manipulated to act against our own interests. The sad thing is that most Arabs understand the fact that this wasn't even a facade -- we genuinely were deceived and humiliated by the Israelis, we weren't in on it. Israel correctly calculated that they could slap the U.S. administration in the face, but nothing would change for its lapdog. Ever was it thus, ever shall it be.

There's no way that the timing of the announcements can be seen as anything other than a brazen slap in the face to their only consistent ally and benefactor. Netanyahu's administration doesn't care about the peace process and they're so sure of their perceived value to the US that they don't even try to pretend, even for the sake of appearances. It's absolutely baffling why the United States chooses to stay in a relationship where it receives only humiliation and continued threats to its security. It's like living with an abusive dwarf that sells drugs out of the house and leaves loaded weapons laying around for the kids to find, but we keep sticking around because he tells us nobody else will love us because we're ugly and stupid. We need an intervention!!!

I still do not understand how we can support an Apartheid Nation. The US Policy on legislated racism should be clear. It should be a policy of intolerance. We imposed sanctions on South Africa to move them away from their apartheid system of government; yet with Israel, not only do we not impose sanctions or an embargo, but we actually provide them with more Economic and Military aid than the entire continent of Africa combined! What is wrong with this picture?

Desmond Tutu, Former President Jimmy Carter and a number of other dignitaries who are known for the ethics and moral backbone have all been clear in their assessments, Israel is an Apartheid State. For the life of me, I just cannot understand how a country that has a black president would allow a country based upon racist zionist ideology to continue to threaten US National Security Interests.

I was against the Iraq war as I knew there were no WMDs in Iraq. I was against the invasion of Afghanistan as I knew that it did not properly serve US National interersts, but now that we are there, we must win. Israel is stopping us from winning in Afghanistan. Israel is preventing us from neutralizing the geopolitical threat that Iran poses.

If the United States were to announce tommorow that it was making a clean break in its foreign policy strategy with regards to Israel, we could finally get Iran to do an about face on every level. We must remember that Israel is supposed to be an asset for the United States, not the other way around.

At this point, it is painfully clear to all, that the United States is teetering on the edge, Our last chance as a nation is to remember that our foreign policy decisions should be based on securing American National Security Interests. Continuing to support Israel, as they spit in our face and tell us it is raining makes America look impotent to the world at large and only reinforces the current popular consensus on the arab street that United States foreign policy is controlled by Israel.

Let us be very clear, it will be a great challenge to overcome the immense power of AIPAC and their lackeys in Congress, but there comes a time in every politicians life when they must decide which is more important, doing what is in the interests of the American people or getting re elected. Presidents Lead, Mr. Obama needs to stand up to Racism and Lead the policy of Change he promised, US National Security Interests depend upon it.

I just want to man 2 points.

1. The Israeli insult was not accidental, it was at best uncaring but more likely intentional. They are unhappy with the Obama administration, and are using the incident to rev up their supporters in the US. Mr Netan-yahoo should be dis-invited for his trip. And it is not the foreign minister or the home minsister that should go it should be the Prime Minister. He is an obstructionist. The US should make it clear we will not do business with him. The people of Israel have a right to elect their own leaders, but we have a right to refuse to deal with them.

2. The US is not a fair mediator in the middle east. We may have the deep pockets that are necessary to bribe the parties into peace, but we can not broker the peace. We favor Israel, they are our ally. They have been the one state in the region that we can count on. We need to recuse ourselves and let someone else take the lead.

The terrorist sponsering apartheid theocracy of Israel is a threat to US National Security Interests.

Apartheid Israel has bankrupted the United States Economically and Morally.
The US spends 130 Billion dollars every year on this criminal state.

Gifts Israel has provided to Americans:

USS Liberty, Lavon Affair, Johnathan Pollard, JDL terrorism, King David hotel Bombings, Sabra & Shatilia masacares....... and ofcourse 911.

Thank you Israel.

"Do Not Worry about the Americans, We Control the Americans, and the Know it" - Ariel Sharon - October 3rd, 2001 - YISRAEL Radio

Lets see, history is appealed to, god is appealed to and the dispute is over real dirt and who owns what. The united states as a nation is exactly the same as every other dominant power has been through out history." no permanent enemy or friend just permanent interests". If support of Israel serves our economic and strategic goals they will always get what they want. If not there won't be any resupply after their air and armor units get another nasty shock
[ yom kippur assault ]. If you think Israel directs the US I suggest you review and compare the battle of Falujah and the Gaza City assault. The IDF could not do what our army and marines did because the death rate would have been intolerable as is always true of urban combat. Before anyone makes the fatal mistake of assuming they can make the american's dance to their tune I suggest you discuss it with Saddam Hussein or perhaps visit the Taliban ministry of foreign affairs in Kabul. That is real history written in the blood of our young and that of the afgan and iraqi people-its why history always has an iron stench to it. Either find a non violent way to settle these real estate clashes or be prepared to bury your young. Think hard before you act because the graveyards are filled with the bones of the passionate.