Israel Matzav: Obama using Goldstone Report as a club against Israel

Obama using Goldstone Report as a club against Israel

Haaretz reports that the Obama administration is using the Goldstone Report as a club against Israel.

Even if the legal process that Goldstone initiated ends up being halted, and Israel is not put in the dock in The Hague, its hands have been tied. The world, led by Obama, will not let it initiate a Cast Lead II operation. Certainly not when a right-wing government is in power in Jerusalem led by Benjamin Netanyahu, whom the world loves to hate. Netanyahu's clumsy attempt, in his Knesset speech this week, to link the war in Gaza to opposition leader Tzipi Livni did not really succeed. He is in power and the world considers him responsible. The Americans and the Europeans are using the Goldstone report to punish Netanyahu for his refusal to freeze the settlements.

You can take that with a grain of salt, since it's Haaretz and it was written by Aluf Benn. But he's right that Obama and the Europeans may well use the Goldstone Report as a club against Israel. The good news is that there is almost no backing in Israel for a total 'settlement freeze' as demanded by Obama (not even from Livni by the way). If Netanyahu is going down, everyone else is going down with him.

Israel Matzav: Obama using Goldstone Report as a club against Israel