'NY Times': Netanyahu is dangerously isolating Israel

PM has sought to embarrass US president by refusing to halt settlement construction, refusing to negotiate.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Obama Netanyahu 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Obama Netanyahu 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has sought to embarrass US President Barack Obama, and must face the fact that Israel is more isolated now than when Netanyahu took office, TheNew York Times charged in an editorial published Thursday.
According to the Times editorial, which attempted to explain why a traditionally democratic district in New York City with a large Jewish population elected a little-known Republican representative in a special election, Netanyahu has been "intractable" in his his approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, refusing to halt settlement construction and laying blame on "inability to be more forthcoming on his conservative coalition."
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While the editorial said that Obama may not be handling the Israel-Palestinian ordeal so well under pressure, it defended the US president's support for Israel, saying his administrations has successfully rallied "tough sanctions on Iran and "cooperating" with Israel on the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system - the US approved $205 million in funding for the program.
The Barack administration also aided Israel in protecting its diplomats when the Israeli embassy was besieged last week in Cairo by thousands of angry protesters, the New York Times said.
The US president is also "risking American ties with a fast-changing Arab world by vowing to veto the Palestinians’ statehood bid at the United Nations," pushing last minute for a resumption to negotiations by sending senior US envoys to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas just days before he petitions the UN.
So, despite the fact that a traditionally democratic neighborhood may swing Republican, the editorial concluded, Netanyahu must face the fact that his country's isolation is more dangerous for Israel than the political direction of the US government.