OBAMA BACKS ISRAEL UNITY GOVERNMENT HEADED BY NETANYAHU DEBKAfile forwarded with comments by Emanuel A. Winston

OBAMA BACKS ISRAEL UNITY GOVERNMENT HEADED BY NETANYAHU

DEBKAfile forwarded with comments by Emanuel A. Winston, Mid East analyst & commentator

How to read the following report: (It's all in the BAG!)

1. If Obama and his Middle East team of advisors say they will accept Netanyahu and a unity government, they know he is already in the BAG.

2. When PM Ehud Olmert (resigned due to imminent criminal indictments but, still in power), invited Netanyahu to join FM Tzipi Livni and DM Ehud Barak to plan the next truce "Hudna" (temporary truce), be assured he will go along. He is in the BAG!

3. Watch for Netanyahu to accept release of up to 1000 Terrorists, to include Marwan Bargouti who Washington wants to put into power as a replacement for Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) as another Yassir Arafat - Netanyahu is in the BAG!

4. Another request plan to shovel U.S. tax dollars into the black hole of "Palestinian" development which never develops, Netanyahu is expected to go along with because he is in the BAG!

5. Sen. George Mitchell proposes another training period of "Palestinian" 'cum' Terrorists called a Security Force. This was done several times before, with the then trained Palestinians like the Tanzim and Al Qaeda Martyrs' Brigades and other Terror Organizations joining Hamas, along with U.S. provided weapons - all of which were turned against Israel. Apparently, Netanyahu is in the BAG! On this also.

The U.S. BAG is large and anyone willing to cooperate has a place.

Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres found a space reserved for them. Barak fit nicely; Netanyahu fit when he was Prime Minister for the first time. Even Ariel Sharon squeezed in. Then came Olmert, Livni and Barak. Peres was always there. The U.S. Bag was always kept open for new Jewish recruits willing to go along and jump into the BAG!

COMMENTS BY EMANUEL A. WINSTON

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OBAMA BACKS ISRAEL UNITY GOVERNMENT HEADED BY NETANYAHU

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 15, 2009, 9:14 AM (GMT+02:00)

 US president Barack Obama has bought Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu's program for attacking the Palestinian issue by first building a strong West Bank economy, DEBKAfile's Washington sources report. For its execution, Washington is in favor of Netanyahu forming a unity government in partnership with Kadima's Tzipi Livni and Labor's Ehud Barak.

Messages to this effect reached the three Israeli leaders over the weekend. It was picked up on by the outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert, who invited Netanyahu to join his next consultation with Livni and Barak on handling the Hamas truce talks in Cairo. Making it a foursome effectively starts the transition between the Jerusalem administrations.

Our sources also reveal that the White House decided after due deliberation to put the Palestinian peace issue on a back burner in the first year of the Obama presidency. Its top priorities must now be the economy and Afghanistan-Pakistan. The president's national security adviser Gen. James Jones argued that anyway, the Palestinians are split between two rival administrations and the potential Palestinian state is fragmented between the Gaza enclave backed by Iran and the and the West Bank which is headed by a weak leader, Mahmoud Abbas. The basic conditions for peace diplomacy are therefore lacking.

Special Middle East envoy George Mitchell was therefore instructed to focus on plans for establishing a firm economy on the West Bank with several hundred million dollars of US aid. Taking the opposite direction from previous Israeli governments, the Likud leader persuaded Washington that giving West Bank Palestinians a sense of prosperity would produce more results than going straight for the tough issues such as settlement evacuation. With a robust economy, the Palestinians have a better chance of building healthy government.

Mitchell was also directed to expedite the creation and training of a Palestinian security force to sustain a pro-Western administration on the West Bank.

With these two elements in place, the Obama administration hopes the future will throw up a Palestinian leader able to take over from Mahmoud Abbas and lead negotiations with Israel for a peace serving both their interests.