I've seen enough of the congressional Republicans in action to admit that, if one of those nuts were for some reason to declare the Pythagorean Theorem irrefutable, I'd probably begin re-examining what I think I know about geometry. Regarding their love for Benjamin Netanyahu, however, there is no reason to re-examine anything: Bibi's viperhood (quality or state of being a viper) should have been evident for as long as he's been on the scene, a long time now, too long.
But what about the current, common opinion holding that, by declaring himself opposed to a two-state solution, ever, Netanyahu "went too far" and "showed his true colors"? This view is generally accompanied by the observation that the way he's tried to "walk back" his campaign position in interviews with American journalists shows that he's an untrustworthy double-dealer.
Possibly there is an Arab somewhere who, upon being apprised of these insights, would roll her eyes.
Besides politics, I don't think there's a sphere of human activity in which those on the receiving end of obvious, intentional insincerity perform knitted-brow analysis of the scholastic variety. Yes, Netanyahu has never had any interest in making a deal with the Palestinians, but that's been plain for a long, long time. His sorry little recent rhetorical gambit is, in miniature, representative of the entire right-wing project in Israel for the past several generations. They say they want peace while working assiduously to make it impossible, except on Israel's terms. I'm talking about the blatantly illegal settlement movement. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that one day Israel were to give back half the land it's "settled." It would crow about how much it has given up, but the stolen half it keeps continues to grow, too. And, anyway, it isn't giving up a thing. It has the power, it has the United States, and it will roll the Palestinians, "an imaginary people."
So now it appears the Obama administration is reconsidering. It's about time. A new policy toward Israel is as overdue as the new one toward Cuba.
More on this discouraging topic from David Remnick, here, and from David Shulman, here.
