Reply #2: I love it. Barack is a disaster, not Israel's public policy?

[sui generis]

I AM dismayed - how much in denial the state of Israel is about their accountability for falling public sentiment.

Anyway, the only disaster in foreign and domestic policy is fundamental rigidity and dishonesty. If Israel is going to continue to pretend that it can be an independent sovereign state, then it needs to come to the foreign policy table prepared to lead constructively, and not dictate and then claim that anyone who doesn't agree is a "disaster".

Anyway, I'd like to probe this comment a bit more. What exactly, Danny Ayalon, did you mean to imply when you said that it would be a "grave mistake" to propose a Middle East peace plan that didn't align itself exclusively with Israel?

Does he mean Israel would do something to force the U.S. hand in support, such as starting a war and then running to the playground monitor to bail them out? Or do they simply mean blackmail and extortion? Because the alternative (alternative to "grave mistake") of proposing a broader peace plan is that it might actually be workable and earn some adherence from its stakeholders if it's not just a blind backing of existing Israeli public policy.

I really don't like vague threats or intimations on the foreign policy stage. It means that somebody THINKS they have a lever, whether they do or not, and THAT really could turn out to be a disaster.