The Obama Administration is urging senior Palestinian officials to keep their views about Israel and its leaders to themselves for the time being if they want the current negotiations to bear fruit and result in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
So said Palestinian officials who spoke to Israel’s Ynet news portal on Tuesday.
The Palestinians said the Americans cited as an example a recent interview given by Mohammed Dahlan during which the senior aide to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas characterized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “liar” and said the peace talks had little chance with someone like him at Israel’s helm.
The White House was also reportedly frustrated by constant leaks by Palestinian officials regarding details of the negotiations, with added commentary that the Palestinians don’t like the way things are going.
The American reaction to this phenomenon highlights one of the primary deficiencies of the current peace process. Washington has for the past decade-and-a-half been focused on concluding a final status Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, regardless of whether or not an atmosphere conducive to peaceful coexistence actually exists.
That the Palestinian leadership and the majority of the public fed by its statements still view Israel and the Jews as an enemy to be hated and ultimately defeated is not seen by the US as being in any way detrimental to the prospects of a lasting peace.
EIther that, or the US administration doesn’t actually care about peace, but is rather more interested in a diplomatic achievement for itself.
