USA to bribe Israel with virtual F-35 jets

Another U.S. attempt to establish peace in the Middle East has ended in a failure. This was illustrated by a recent U.S. proposal to Israel.

Head of the Department of State Hillary Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister to extend the three-month moratorium on the construction of Jewish settlements on the West Bank in exchange for the full support in the UN Security Council, blocking of anti-Israel resolutions and 20 fifth-generation fighters F-35 worth three billion dollars.

Israel has previously expressed a desire to buy this equipment because it was virtually at war with many of its neighbors. Added to this are repeated threats against the Jewish state from Iran. However, the problem is that the "flying lightning" has not yet been tested, and their completion will take years. This means that the Americans offered to Israelis to extend the moratorium in exchange for nonexistent planes.

The Palestinian-Israeli dialogue with American mediation has now stalled. One of the main reasons for the refusal of Palestinians to continue peace talks with Israel was that the Jewish side refused to stop building settlements on the West Bank. As we know, the Palestinians themselves had their eye on these areas in the hope that they will be a part of a Palestinian state.

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The U.S. has decided to revive the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue through this last desperate attempt. And, of course, the Israelis in their usual manner are going to provide a "virtual answer" to a "virtual" offer of the Americans. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to endorse such a proposal, but "not in the near future."

In his commentary to Pravda.ru, deputy director of the Institute of USA and Canada Pavel Zolotarev said that "such a proposal from the Americans suggests that the degree of the U.S. influence on Israel is not enough to push decisions favorable to Washington. The Obama administration is no longer unconditionally supportive of Israel and is now looking for leverage. But the Israeli side will be cautious. As of now there is no information whether these F-35 fighter jets will be donated or sold to Israel".

In any case, the U.S. proposals seem frivolous for both parties. Of course, Israel can laugh about it and theoretically accept the American proposals. But this obviously will not satisfy the Palestinian side. After all, what is a 90-day moratorium? Palestinians regard it as yet another attempt of the Americans to fool everyone as they mainly want to present themselves capable of solving the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In addition, the Palestinians are well aware what the promise to Israel to block all anti-Israel resolution means to the American. To them, it looks like a deal of Israeli Jews with their U.S. counterparts, whose aim is to deceive the world community and, most importantly, the Palestinians themselves.

In turn, Israel understands the American idea. Israelis fear that the "peacemaker" Obama will put the Jewish State on the altar of the Middle East conflict settlement.

It would seem that there are no reasons for these fears because Israel is the only U.S. ally in the region that can always be relied upon. And if so, the Israelis have nothing to fear. However, Tel Aviv is well aware of the price of the allied promises of the Americans. Look, for instance, at South Vietnam, which was considered a cornerstone in the architecture of the U.S. security system in South-East Asia.

In 1975, Americans actually gave it to the mercy of North Vietnamese Communists, although bombing of the advancing troops of the Viet Cong could have prevented the fall of South Vietnam.

Although now it is being justified by the peculiarities of the political situation at that time, no one can guarantee that this time the U.S. would not give up its ally. In addition, the latest example of the American betrayal is still very fresh, if you remember Georgia and its attempt to regain control over South Ossetia.

In any case, the last offer of the United States demonstrates the failure of the Obama administration's focus at a peaceful settlement in the region. Palestinian conflict is one of those that are almost impossible to settle.

Peace in the Middle East is as much a phantom as jets F-35 promised to Israel. After all, every action causes a painful reaction on both sides because it is impossible to satisfy the requirements of the Arabs without jeopardizing the interests of Jews, and vice versa. And sooner or later Obama who undertook this task will be forced to admit it, which will cause irreparable loss of U.S. credibility as a major world power.

Sergei Balmasov
Pravda.Ru

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