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Yaalon: We are "maneuvering' under pressure from Peace Now and the US

As I write this blog post, Israel's inner cabinet, the so-called "Forum of Seven," is convened in Jerusalem to hammer out a reply to the Obama administration's requests for sincere measures that would advance peace talks with the Palestinians.

How serious are the discussions? Take a look at the interview that Israel's Vice Premier Moshe (Bogi) Yaalon gave to today's Yedioth Ahronoth. All we are doing is "maneuvering" because of pressure from Peace Now and the US government, Bogi says to Yedioth.


Here are some quotes:

•    "Nobody in the forum of seven thinks that we can reach an agreement with the Palestinians..." "And I say so out of knowledge."
•    "Because in the political establishment there are pressures. Peace Now from within and other elements from without. So you have to maneuver. But what I'm saying now has to be given over to the Americans, and I hope that they will understand."
•    "Some of what we have to do is maneuver with the American administration and the European establishment, which are also nourished by Israeli elements, which create the illusion that an agreement can be reached."
•    "From my perspective, I would even be willing to divide the country, but today I would not be willing to have such a compromise in light of what I have seen. So we have to make use of time in order to keep on building."
•    "We need to see what has happened here in the past seventeen years: the idea of land for peace has failed. We got land for terror in Judea and Samaria and land for rockets in Gaza. What, the Americans do not see it?"
•    "The prime minister reiterates all the time, and also brought a decision to the security cabinet that says clearly, that immediately after the freeze, we will continue to build in Judea and Samaria as we did before...It is a distorted perspective that the settlements are an obstacle to peace."