If US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's remarks yesterday are any measure, American support for the Israeli position has probably never been stronger. Asked for his opinions on Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, Rumsfeld essentially justified their existence and said they're a non-issue. Admitting that this might not be the official Bush Administration's position, Rumsfeld twice called Yesha "the so-called occupied territories."
Excerpts from Rumsfeld's appearance at a Pentagon Town Hall meeting yesterday:
"If you have a country that's a sliver and you can see three sides of it from a high hotel building, you've got to be careful what you give away and to whom you give it. If you're giving it to an entity that has some track record, that has a degree of accountability, that has the ability to enforce security that's promised in whatever arrangements are made, it seems to me that's one thing. If you're making a deal and yielding territory to an entity that cannot or will not do that - and there is no question but that the Palestinian Authority have been involved with terrorist activities - so that makes it a difficult interlocutor.
"My feeling about the so-called occupied territories are that there was a war, Israel urged neighboring countries not to get involved in it once it started, they all jumped in, and they lost a lost of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict. In the intervening period, they've made some settlements in various parts of the so-called occupied area, which was the result of a war, which they won.
"They have offered up -- successive prime ministers have offered up various portions of that so-called occupied territory, the West Bank, and at no point has it been agreed upon by the other side...
"The settlement issues -- it's hard to know whether they're settlements in portions of the real estate that will end up with the entity that you make an arrangement with, or Israel. So it seems to me focusing on settlements at the present time misses the point. The real point is to get an effective interlocutor. The real point is to get a condition so that you can have a peace agreement...
Rumsfeld’s remarks were assumedly not welcomed by a Palestinian Authority delegation, led by Saeb Erekat, that arrived in Washington around the same time to meet with top level US officials.
Excerpts from Rumsfeld's appearance at a Pentagon Town Hall meeting yesterday:
"If you have a country that's a sliver and you can see three sides of it from a high hotel building, you've got to be careful what you give away and to whom you give it. If you're giving it to an entity that has some track record, that has a degree of accountability, that has the ability to enforce security that's promised in whatever arrangements are made, it seems to me that's one thing. If you're making a deal and yielding territory to an entity that cannot or will not do that - and there is no question but that the Palestinian Authority have been involved with terrorist activities - so that makes it a difficult interlocutor.
"My feeling about the so-called occupied territories are that there was a war, Israel urged neighboring countries not to get involved in it once it started, they all jumped in, and they lost a lost of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict. In the intervening period, they've made some settlements in various parts of the so-called occupied area, which was the result of a war, which they won.
"They have offered up -- successive prime ministers have offered up various portions of that so-called occupied territory, the West Bank, and at no point has it been agreed upon by the other side...
"The settlement issues -- it's hard to know whether they're settlements in portions of the real estate that will end up with the entity that you make an arrangement with, or Israel. So it seems to me focusing on settlements at the present time misses the point. The real point is to get an effective interlocutor. The real point is to get a condition so that you can have a peace agreement...
Rumsfeld’s remarks were assumedly not welcomed by a Palestinian Authority delegation, led by Saeb Erekat, that arrived in Washington around the same time to meet with top level US officials.