Soccer Dad

Pushing the reset button

The hysteria over Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is breaking out all over (via memeorandum).

Haaretz and the BBC are reporting that Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman have reached a deal wherein the far-right politician will become Israel's foreign minister.

If so, you can kiss the peace process goodbye for a while, if it is not gone for good. Israel's international standing is going to take a major nosedive.

Already, EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has warned that the way "the European Union will relate to an (Israeli) government that is not committed to a two-state solution will be very, very different."

Why an Israeli political move should cause such consternation is beyond me. Aren't these people also ignoring Fatah's continued ties to terror and advocating bringing a terrorist organization into the Palestinian government in the cause of peace?

We are entering a world where Israel did not withdraw from southern Lebanon and didn't abandon Gaza to Hamas. In this world there are no Palestinian violations, only Palestinian grievances. Over the past 15 years, the world has given Israel too little credit for its concessions and the Palestinians too little blame for their bad faith. With Netanyahu as Prime Minister, this situation will only get worse.