Former American Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer has blasted the Obama administration’s offer of an incentive package to convince Israel to extend the freeze on building in communities located on land acquired in the 1967 war. Writing in the Washington Post on Sunday, Kurtzer suggests that, “For the first time in memory, the United States is poised to reward Israel for its bad behavior,” and admonishes both the U.S. and Israel, saying “Washington will almost certainly come to regret bribing Israel, Israel may regret receiving such a bribe even more.” Kurtzer argues that, “If [the deal] goes forward, it will be the first direct benefit that the United States has provided Israel for settlement activities that we have opposed for more than 40 years.” The former ambassador questions whether the Palestinians, too, will be “rewarded for their own bad behavior,” providing the example of “halt[ing] the incitement against Israel and Jews in their public media and some educational materials – something that shouldn’t have been going on in the first place.” Although Kurtzer calls both Washington and Jerusalem “short-sighted,” he accuses Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu of the more serious offense, saying that, “By subjecting Israel’s defense needs to the political demands of an American administration, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has done something quite dangerous for Israel – he has made those needs contingent, negotiable, optional. Israel‘s security requirements are now merely a bargaining chip with which to negotiate what Jerusalem will or will not do to advance the peace process.” Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas arrived in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the American offer to Israel with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League chief Amr Moussa. The Palestinians are miffed by reports that east Jerusalem will be excluded from the building freeze and see American acquiescence to an Israeli military presence on the eastern flank of a Palestinian state as intrusive and excessive.
