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Monday Sep 21, 2009

Rosner's Domain: The Israel Factor: Losers' game

Posted by SHMUEL ROSNER
Comments: 18
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The Israel Factor panel was asked to asses the Obama administration's handling of different aspects of its Israel-related policies. This might not be a surprise: the marks the administration is getting aren't very high. Today, when Obama meets Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, it is worth taking a look at what our panel of experts has to say about Obama and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What's The Israel Factor? Click here.

Previous Factor post: Obama rapidly losing favor. Click here.

We asked the panel to give a 1-5 mark to the administration on three topics that we be definitely discussed today between the three leaders. 1 means our panel thought the Obama team was handling the matter at hand poorly. 5 means the administration was handling it superbly. Take a look at the average marks the Obama administration got from the panel:

2.375

Handling the Israeli-Arab peace process in general

2.25

Handling the Israel-Palestinian conflict

2.625

Handling talks over future of settlements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One important note: There's almost unanimous agreement among panelists on the first two items - Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But on the third topic, settlement freeze, the panel is somewhat more divided. Three of the panelists gave the Obama administration a 4. I called for explanation, and what I found is this: the more one supports settlement freeze, the more one is inclined to say that Obama handled the matter properly. In other words: this assessment is somewhat more "political" than "professional".

And here's another question we've asked the panel: "Judging by what we know now about the deal over settlements freeze, please rate the parties ability to achieve what you believe to be their goals from 1 (didn't achieve anything) to 5 (achieved what they wanted)". The outcome:

The Obama administration: 2.75

The Netanyahu governement: 2.75

The Palestinian Authority: 2.25

This assessment is interesting for two reasons:

  1. The panel believes that this is essentially a losers' game. Even though most panelists think that the Palestinian Authority was less successful than the Obama and the Netanyahu governments, they don't see any "winners" here. Just three governments not getting what they want.
  2.  The panel is unanimous when it comes to the PA, and split when it comes to Obama (three panelists gave it a 4, one gave it a 3) and Netanyahu (two gave it a 4, three gave it a 3). This, again, is the product of the difficulty to separate political beliefs from professional assessment.

 

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Comments: Post your own comment
1  |  Christian aid worker, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
Israel is not the centre of the world, Jews are not the center of the world. Just because one wants to be always at centerstage, doesn't mean one is at centerstage. Israel is also a murderer, liar and land thief. It is much hated by the rest of mankind.
2  |  GOLDEN NUGGET Australia, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
...yep..since #1..i.e. No.1 with "aids" DOES NOT BELONG to mankind...it matters NOT what this "Christ Denier" retarded Jew hating moron goes off on !!
3  |  molly-glasgow, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
#1 that's not true and I believe deep down you know it.The reason that a lot of the World doesn't like us christians or jews is because of The Lord .The Jews were given the Word of God and are a blessed people and we share in that blessing .You too can know His peace as He's a graciuos GOD.Israel is supernaturally kept and God has said He would take them back to their own land {which He did ] and that never again would they be removed from their land.There are a lot of christian arabs [who NOW love the jews ]where once they hated them.
4  |  Christian aide worker, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
To number-3. You are wrong, the Jews were never given the word of God, the Israelites were. Most Jews are not Israelites and probably the descendants of ancient Israel are not Jews. Second, present-day Judaism is very much based on Shulhan Aruch, written by Yosef Karo, in the 16th century. God never instructed the Prophet Moses to say that "the ten commandments don't apply to non-Jews." God never told Moses that the life of a goy has no sanctity. God never told Moses that "the best of gentiles kill'em." In short, today's Judaism is a radical corruption of the orginal religon of Moses.
5  |  Christian aid worker, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
It is true that God predicted the ingathering of Jews into Palestine, but it is also true that God also predicted that Jews would be destroyed in Palestine. The ingathering in Palestine shouldn't be interpreted as a sign of God being pleased with the Jews. God is never pleased with child killers, land thieves, fornicators, adulterers, and brutal oppressors. This is why I strongly believe that Israel would cease to exist in a matter of 2030 years. Maybe God-fearing Jews would succeed the present criminal generations. Maybe.
6  |  American Christian, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
molly-glasgow: why do you lump Jews and Christians together. In truth, Judaism is closer to Islam than to Christianity. Judaism completely and absolutely rejects Jesus. According to Shulhan Aruch, Jesus is the worst person in the history of mankind. And his Mother Mary is called obscene names. Besides, Christian missionaries are fought relentlessly in Israel and on some occasons New Testaments are publicly burned. So, stop the deception. There are educated people on this forum.
7  |  Mike Feldman, Canada, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
#1. Phoney named poster. Actually,until your post, I never thought of it that way. But look around at what occupies a good portion of the news of the world, and the time and energy spent by Jew haters like you everywhere, It seems that the 15 million Jews out of the world's population of 6 billion do, in fact, occupy centre stage.
8  |  Christian supporter of Israel, USA, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
#1 it is deeply troubling to read such hateful comments as yours, when you call yourself a Christian.
9  |  Watchtower, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
4, 5, 6, Not Christian Aid Worker. Is Tom.
10  |  Johnson USA, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
The existentionalist question arises for Israel with the detachement of the West from threats to Israel's existence as it has become the zeitgeist to inveigh for at best a "two-state solution" rather than repatriatiation of Arabs from nish-Jordan to Arab countries and establishing Israel unequivocably as a Jewish state. Israel's survival needs to entail Western interests by reviving the MAD (mutually assured destruction) deterrent tha6t existed during the Cold War. Israel should place nuclear devices in all major Western cities and threaten detonation if Israel suffers nuclear attack.
11  |  Christian, uk, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
#1? wrong, around or near the exact centre (Giza) is where they started out as a People. Oh, I should include the sea?
12  |  True American Christian, Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
#8, you support Israel's criminal actions and shamelessly label critics of Israeli criminality as"hateful." I am certain you and people like you would have joined forces with the Pharissees and Saducees and others who hated Jesus and conspired to kill him.I challeng you to compare and cotrast your Christian Zionism with the true Ideals of Jeus, which are based on love and justice.
13  |  Achbishop Ollie Ogelthorpe, Birmingham, Wednesday Sep 23, 2009
#12 How about a big group hug with the Islamists. Careful not to hug one who's got a bomb strapped around his/her waist. True American Chistians got over the who killed Christ routine a long time ago. Clean your own house.
14  |  Christian supporter of Israel, USA, Wednesday Sep 23, 2009
#12 It's people with views similar to yours who allowed the Holocaust to happen.
15  |  Johnson USA, Wednesday Sep 23, 2009
#12, you are a self-declared Christina, but your outlook denominates you as something else. Your references to Israeli "criminality" are unfounded and bizarre as Israel has been repeatedly been victimized by belligerent Arabs and unceasingly attacked. Israel has been remiss in not serving as an instrument of God's wrath and ruthlessly destroying its enemies according to the orders of God in the Old Testament. Unless and until Israel removes the Arabs from within its boundaries and repatriates them from all of Israel and Jerusalem to the cradle of Islam, Saudi Arabia, there will be no peace.
16  |  Yacov Yosifovitch, NYC, :SHANNA TOVA Eretz Yo-iSRAEL & CO.!, Wednesday Sep 23, 2009
"When one listens, like music, to the sound of the "SHOFAR" and the sounds of the DOVES, and has a taste of that muootik SABRA, then I know I'm in HEAVEN!" . . . S-H-A-N-A-H--T-O-V-A Space-Ship Earth: Miraculously Bornrth from OUR Holyi Cosmic, Momma/Poppa, NEBULA. From: The Hoily MAGMA-PERCOLATION-EFFECT and thence From: The Amazing OCEANIC-MEGAPLUME-WOM miracle! SHOLOM, PEACE, PAZ, MiR, ZHINGYU, AHIMSA, SHANTITH .... LaLaLa LOVE-n-"IT" [Hashem is not a HE nor a SHE; only an "iTSELF" in and out side of Us ALL via Hashems & by endless names/lives , STUFFs & THiNGS etc...!
17  |  Per Larsson Kållekärr, Wednesday Sep 23, 2009
Im Swedish, and I read some stupied things abouth jews!When I was young, we hate spaniards and Italianos, because of their lack of respect for our nordic women!!!!
18  |  andy, Wednesday Sep 23, 2009
#12 your hatred for the jewish people is PLAIN for all to see.
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The Israel Factor, Sep. 2009: Obama is rapidly losing favor with panel of Israeli experts

Recent Comments

Mike Feldman, Canada: lydia. I understand you took a couple of days off to go on de-tox. It obviously didnt work. You're still full of it.
Mike Feldman, Canada: #54 Duncan Lennox. Curious hypothetical for you to quote. In all your previous blogs you denied that the Battle of Jericho per the Book of Joshua ever happened.Now you quote results of attitudes towards the battle. I'm looking forward to your review of the movie "2012, now playing in a theater near you.
Mike Feldman, Canada: #22. Let me give you what may appear to be a facetious contradiction to your post. Let's say my religion advocates killing my daughter because she wants to change her religion? Does that mean that I am not subject to secular punishment? The separation of Church and State was devised so that the state could not legislate religion. It was never intended to place religion above the common laws whcih are intended to protect the human rights of the citizens.
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