John Kerry has been flying all over the Middle East for days trying desperately to negotiate an end to the fighting in Gaza. When Kerry arrived, there was an Egyptian cease fire proposal on the table that Israel had accepted and Hamas rejected. In essence, the Egyptians wanted the shooting to stop and then both sides to meet to discuss resolution of the existing issues. Hamas demanded that before it would stop shooting, it would need an end to the blockade, a reopening of the border crossings into Israel and Egypt, a fund for "reconstruction" (which probably means rebuilding its terror tunnels), and a few other lesser points. Not surprisingly, Israel and Egypt both rejected those points. Israel does not want Hamas to be able to rearm so that the latest war will just be resumed in a few years once Hamas has regained the means to fight. Israel also does not want to reward Hamas with a victory as a result of its murder of Israelis and its firing of three thousand plus missiles at the Jewish state. For its part, Egypt does not want to reopen its border to Gaza; there have been too many attacks in Egypt by terrorists sent by Hamas. While Egypt is not the target of Hamas in the same way that Israel is, the Egyptians understand that Hamas would gladly attack Egypt on a regular basis if it could.
So against this background, Kerry made a cease fire proposal. What did it include? 1) The fighting would stop. 2) The border crossings out of Gaza would reopen. 3) There would be a new seaport built in Gaza to receive freighters for foreign trade with Gaza. 4) A funding mechanism would be set up to allow Qatar to send money to Hamas to be used for reconstruction. 5) Israeli troops would leave Gaza without any further ability to destroy the tunnels built by Hamas for infiltration into Israel. Kerry "agreed" to this proposal with representatives of Turkey and Qatar, the two countries that are allied most closely with Hamas. Neither Egypt nor Israel were consulted.
Kerry's proposal is a true betrayal of Israel. It is a betrayal even of Egypt. It is perhaps the most bone-headed, idiotic move made by Kerry since he became secretary of state, and that makes it truly stupid. It is a proposal that Kerry has to know is unacceptable to both Israel and Egypt. Why would Kerry even offer such a proposal. Surely someone on his staff is smart enough to recognize the total idiocy of this plan and the inevitability of its failure even if Kerry himself is too dull to notice that reality. (Not surprisingly, both Egypt and Israel have rejected the Kerry plan.)
So here's the real question for me: is it conceivable that Kerry put this plan forward without running it by the White House? Did Obama and his national security advisors like Susan Rice and Chuck Hagel also agree that this was the plan to suggest? Are they all that dense? Or is this intended as a slap at Israel and Egypt? Is this just the latest move by Obama and his people to punish America's allies and side with our enemies. Is Obama still trying to curry favor with terrorists like Hamas? Has he not learned after six years of failure that the terrorists are not going to ally with the USA or even accept us as anything other than their enemy?
We still have two plus more years with these guys in office. It is a truly terrible prospect.
So against this background, Kerry made a cease fire proposal. What did it include? 1) The fighting would stop. 2) The border crossings out of Gaza would reopen. 3) There would be a new seaport built in Gaza to receive freighters for foreign trade with Gaza. 4) A funding mechanism would be set up to allow Qatar to send money to Hamas to be used for reconstruction. 5) Israeli troops would leave Gaza without any further ability to destroy the tunnels built by Hamas for infiltration into Israel. Kerry "agreed" to this proposal with representatives of Turkey and Qatar, the two countries that are allied most closely with Hamas. Neither Egypt nor Israel were consulted.
Kerry's proposal is a true betrayal of Israel. It is a betrayal even of Egypt. It is perhaps the most bone-headed, idiotic move made by Kerry since he became secretary of state, and that makes it truly stupid. It is a proposal that Kerry has to know is unacceptable to both Israel and Egypt. Why would Kerry even offer such a proposal. Surely someone on his staff is smart enough to recognize the total idiocy of this plan and the inevitability of its failure even if Kerry himself is too dull to notice that reality. (Not surprisingly, both Egypt and Israel have rejected the Kerry plan.)
So here's the real question for me: is it conceivable that Kerry put this plan forward without running it by the White House? Did Obama and his national security advisors like Susan Rice and Chuck Hagel also agree that this was the plan to suggest? Are they all that dense? Or is this intended as a slap at Israel and Egypt? Is this just the latest move by Obama and his people to punish America's allies and side with our enemies. Is Obama still trying to curry favor with terrorists like Hamas? Has he not learned after six years of failure that the terrorists are not going to ally with the USA or even accept us as anything other than their enemy?
We still have two plus more years with these guys in office. It is a truly terrible prospect.
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